Safe Harbor
by zeopurple
Summary: An old friend of Hayley's shows up in Reefside with her young daughter in need of a place to hide. What happens when Tommy becomes involved?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **_This is story number three featuring my OC Nikki. I had such a huge success with Bewitched that it's given me the confidence to use this character in other stories. That being said, this is not a sequel to Bewitched, sorry to disappoint some of you. But this story does feature the Tommy/Nikki pairing. It may seem a little reminiscent of Reclaiming Love but it's a totally different plotline. _

The twenty-seven year old Nikki Durham snuck quietly into the bedroom of her three year old daughter. She walked over to the closet and pulled down a small suitcase and then began hurriedly stuffing clothes into it. She had waited nervously for a few hours wanting to make certain that her husband's plane had plenty of time to take off before she finally got up the courage to go through with her plan.

The fight they'd had before he left had been the last straw. She couldn't take it anymore, this wasn't the way she had imagined her life. She met her husband in college and he had been the perfect guy. Her friends and family had taken to him right away and when he proposed to her when they were both just twenty she hadn't hesitated in saying yes. Seven years later, she wondered why she hadn't been strong enough to leave him sooner. Because he wouldn't have allowed her to leave, that's why.

"Mommy, what are you doing?" her daughter asked.

"I was just packing some of your things, we're going on a little trip," Nikki told her.

"Are we going with Daddy?" Emma asked.

"No, this trip is just for you and Mommy, we won't be seeing Daddy for awhile," Nikki answered.

"Can I bring my toys?" Emma questioned.

"Just Dolly and Teddy, you'll have to leave the rest here," Nikki said knowing that those were the two things Emma couldn't live without.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked once Nikki began getting her dressed for the trip.

"Someplace safe and I promise you everything is going to be ok," Nikki told her.

"Mommy, got a boo boo," Emma said pointing to Nikki's eye which was already beginning to turn purple.

"It's ok Emma, we're going away so that never happens again," Nikki said as the door bell began to ring.

"You're really going to do this," Nikki's friend Jen Gordon stated as she walked in the house.

"I have to, I can't keep living like this, especially now that Emma is getting old enough to sense that things are wrong," Nikki replied.

"Tim is going to flip when he comes back to find you gone," Jen said.

"I know and you're probably the first one he'll call, I hate that I'm putting you in the middle of this," Nikki told her.

"Don't you worry about me, this is one time when my ability to lie to people's faces is going to come in handy," Jen said.

"I really thought he was going to kill me this time and all I could think about was Emma being left here with him and I couldn't take it anymore," Nikki replied.

"Come on, let's get your things loaded in the car," Jen said as she picked up a suitcase that was sitting by the door.

"Emma, stay right here until Mommy gets back," Nikki said as she grabbed Emma's car seat and suitcase and followed Jen out the door.

"Now I paid for the car with cash so it's yours free and clear and all the paper work is under the name Liz Hunt, just drive carefully so the police won't find any reason to pull you over," Jen told her.

"I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you for this," Nikki said as she started to cry.

"Just knowing that you and Emma are safe is thanks enough," Jen replied.

"I'm really going to miss you," Nikki said as she gave her a hug.

"I'll miss you too, I can't believe I'm never going to see you again, but I know it has to be this way," Jen told her.

"I better go upstairs and get Emma," Nikki said.

"Here I took some money out of the bank for you," Jen said once Nikki put Emma in the car.

"You didn't have to do that, I have plenty of money, I took the money that my parents had been saving for Emma, it's the only account that I didn't need Tim's permission to withdraw money from," Nikki replied.

"Then use this while you're on the road, you'll need your money to help you get settled somewhere," Jen said as she gave Nikki the money.

"Am I doing the right thing here, taking my daughter from the only life she's known to one where we'll probably spend the rest of our lives in hiding?" Nikki questioned.

"Nikki the best thing for Emma is to be with her mother and if you stay here any longer I'm afraid if Tim doesn't kill you he'll find someway to take her away from you, this is your only choice," Jen responded.

"But he has all the money in the world, he won't stop until he gets her back and he'll probably have me thrown in jail for kidnapping," Nikki said.

"No, don't do that, stop trying to find excuses to stay, you're her mother, you gave birth to her and in my book that gives you every right to take her out of this environment," Jen told her.

"I wish I could write to you and let you know we're ok," Nikki said.

"It's too risky, do you know where you're going," Jen asked..

"Not really, I just need to go somewhere Tim won't think of looking for me," Nikki told her.

"You should go, we wouldn't want to risk one of the neighbors seeing you or noticing what kind of car you left in," Jen said.

"Thanks again for your help," Nikki replied giving Jen one last hug before getting inside the car.

"Just go and don't look back," Jen told her.

Nikki had been driving for over twelve hours straight since leaving her home in Denver. She was now crossing the California state line. At first, her plan had been to drive across the country and head east but that would have been expected. Most people would naturally head as far away as possible from their home when on the run thinking it'd be harder to find them that way. She was sure that Tim would assume the same about her so at the last minute she had decided to head west towards California. Tim would never think she'd be dumb enough to hide only a few states away. And Nikki was counting on that fact.

"Mommy, when are we going to get there?" Emma asked. She had been asleep through most of the trip.

"It's no fun being cooped up in this car is it, I promise we're going to stop really soon," Nikki told her.

The truth was Nikki really had no idea where she was going. The only time she'd been to California was on a trip to Los Angeles with Tim. Suddenly, a sign caught her attention. On it was the name of a town called Reefside. Why did that name seem so familiar to her?

"Oh my god, Hayley," Nikki said aloud. Hayley had been her best friend in high school but Hayley had moved away their senior year. Nikki remembered an article that her mom had sent her a few years ago about Hayley who had opened up a cybercafé in the town of Reefside. She had no idea if Hayley would even still be living there but it was worth a shot. She pulled into a gas station and walked over to a pay phone.

"Hi information, can you give me the address to Hayley's Cyberspace," she said. She wrote the address on her hand and got back into the car.

"Hey Emma, would you like to meet an old friend of Mommy's?"

Nikki hated to bring Hayley into this mess but right now she didn't have a lot of options. Besides it wasn't going to be forever, she just needed a place to hide out for a few days until she came up with a more permanent plan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **_I forgot to do this, but you know the drill I don't own Tommy or Hayley or any other characters from PR that might show up. I do, however own Nikki, Jen, Emma and Tim._

**Author's note: **_Thanks so much to all of you who read and reviewed the first chapter of this story. I hope those of you who are already familiar with the character of Nikki won't be disappointed. _

**SaucyDiva: **_Thanks for suggesting that I put this story up first, it's the one I really wanted to start next. As for Tim's reaction, I can tell you he won't be pleased to find his family gone. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_I probably should have mentioned that somewhere but yeah it's post Dino Thunder because I don't really want to do the whole ranger thing in this one because I'll be writing that in An Unlikely Marriage. _

**Mark61: **_Glad you liked the start. I can tell you it will be sometime before Tommy and Nikki get together in this fic. _

**Bats-Supes: **_I can't promise it'll be a good as Bewitched but I will do my best to make it just as good. _

**General-joseph-dickson: **_Thanks for reviewing. I love getting new readers. _

**Traci26: **_I know most people probably wanted a sequel to Bewitched but I'm glad you are willing to give this story a chance._

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_Thanks for reviewing, I always worry about the first chapter of story so I'm glad this one started well. _

**PinkAzn: **_I'm sure there'll be a sequel to Bewitched at some point. Thanks for sending your friend the link. Writing the first chapter, did remind me of the movie Enough, it's one of my favorites but I didn't get the idea from there. _

**Chylea3784: **_Thanks so much for reviewing, hope you like this next chapter. _

**AJ: **_Thanks so much it's nice to have readers who will actually review especially on the first chapter. _

**Riverkirby: **_Glad you like thanks for reviewing._

Nikki pulled up in front of Hayley's Cyberspace grateful that the street on which it was located had been relatively easy to find. She looked in the rearview mirror to find that Emma had fallen asleep. She hated to wake the young girl by moving her but being in a unknown place she wasn't willing to just lock her inside the car.

"Um sorry, we're closed," a young man told her as she got up to the door with Emma in her arms.

"I was actually looking for Hayley," she told him.

"Oh Hayley, she's gone for the night but you can probably catch her at home, her apartment is only a few blocks from here," he replied.

"Would you mind giving me directions?" Nikki asked.

"Sure, just take a left on Sunland, the Reefside Apartments are on the right and Hayley lives in 4B," he told her.

"Thanks, I really appreciate your help," Nikki told him as she walked back to her car.

"Mommy, I don't want to ride in the car anymore," Emma complained as Nikki strapped her back in.

"I know sweetie it's just going to be awhile longer," Nikki said.

Nikki drove to the Reefside Apartments and parked the car in front of building B.

"Mommy, whose house is this?" Emma asked.

"This is where my friend Hayley lives and it's not a house it's an apartment," Nikki informed her.

"I don't know Hayley," Emma stated.

"No but Mommy does, she was my best friend in high school but I met her when I was about your age," Nikki said.

They arrived at apartment number 4B and Nikki took in a deep breath as she finally worked up the courage to ring the doorbell.

"May I help you?" Hayley asked as she opened the door.

"Um hi, I should have guessed that you might not remember me I mean it has been years since we last saw each other…" Nikki started but was interrupted as Hayley let out a gasp.

"Oh my gosh, Nikki," Hayley said as she wrapped her friend in a hug.

"So you do remember me," Nikki responded once they parted.

"Of course I remember you, what's it been like 9 years or something," Hayley replied.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry for showing up like this but I didn't know where else to go," Nikki told her.

"Oh Nikki, what happened to you?" Hayley asked as she noticed the bruises and black eye that covered Nikki's face.

"I can't really get into that right now," Nikki answered as she indicated Emma who had been hiding behind her.

"And just who is this pretty little girl?" Hayley asked.

"My name's Emma," she said.

"Hi there Emma, I'm Hayley, it's nice to meet you," Hayley told her as she held out her hand.

"You're pretty," Emma said.

"Why thank you, you are so sweet, why don't you two come in," Hayley said.

"You have no idea how good it feels to be out of the car," Nikki said once they took a seat on the couch and Emma curled up in her mother's lap.

"How long have you been traveling?" Hayley asked.

"Too long," Emma said as she closed her eyes.

"We left Denver in the late afternoon yesterday and I've been driving ever since, I wasn't sure where to go and then I saw the sign for Reefside and I remembered that you lived her and I'm hoping you won't mind some uninvited guests," Nikki told her.

"Are you kidding, I'm so happy to see you, I've always felt bad that we didn't keep in touch more," Hayley replied.

"Yeah it was kind of hard when we both went to different colleges," Nikki said.

"I know but I still wish I hadn't let school get in the way of our friendship, the last I heard you were supposedly getting married and I guess Emma here is proof of that," Hayley remarked.

"That seems like a lifetime ago, so much has changed since then, I wish I could say that life's been great but I'd be lying," Nikki replied.

"Emma looks really worn out, why don't you take her to my bedroom and let her get some rest so we can talk," Hayley suggested.

"Oh Hayley I don't want take your room she'll be fine here on the couch," Nikki said.

"You're not taking anything I'm offering it and after being cooped up in the car for so long your little girl deserves a nice bed to sleep in, now go tuck her in, I'll make us some coffee unless you'd like to get some sleep yourself," Hayley replied.

"No, coffee sounds great, I want to talk to you," Nikki told her as Hayley showed her to the bedroom.

"Emma's really beautiful, she looks a lot like you," Hayley commented.

"You think so, everyone always says she must take after her father," Nikki replied as they left the room.

"Is that who hit you?" Hayley asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Oh Hayley, I'm so ashamed, Tim, my husband, was never like this in the beginning," Nikki said as she began to cry.

"How long has this been going on?" Hayley questioned.

"It started a year after we were married," Nikki answered.

"Wait, you've been going through this for the past six years," Hayley said.

"Yes, but this last time was the worst, I really thought he was going to kill me," Nikki told her.

"He doesn't know you're here does he?" Hayley asked.

"No, he left on a business trip and I packed some things grabbed Emma and I just drove away and didn't look back, I don't want to drag you into the this mess, I just need to figure out what to do next and then I promise I'll take Emma and you'll never see us again," Nikki said.

"Don't rush off on my account, I'm your friend and you can stay here as long as you need to, I only wish we hadn't lost touch, if we hadn't then maybe I could have helped you," Hayley told her.

"No one could have helped me Hayley, I was so in love with Tim I couldn't see straight, I convinced myself that he didn't mean it and that I should just work harder to keep him from getting upset, he always said he was sorry and he would promise never to do it again and so I'd stay, I can't believe I was so stupid," Nikki said.

"You're not stupid, but I'm sure Tim made you feel that way, I can understand you wanting to believe that he was sorry especially once Emma came along, you just didn't want to break up your family," Hayley responded.

"It was so much easier when Emma was too young to understand, when she was too young to ask me why I was crying or why Daddy got so mad at me all the time but he's always been so good to her, that's the one thing I'm sure of that Tim loves Emma and that's why when he discovers that I'm gone he won't rest until he finds me and gets her back," Nikki explained.

"Try not to think of that, for now the two of you are safe and I will do everything I can to make sure it stays that way," Hayley told her.

"I can't believe you're being so nice to me after all these years," Nikki said.

"You're my best friend, a few years apart doesn't change that," Hayley replied.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Emma shouted from the bedroom.

"I'll be right there," Nikki called back.

"She's probably not use to sleeping in a strange bed, you must be tired from your trip why don't you get some sleep and we can talk more in the morning," Hayley said.

"Hayley, I really feel guilty for taking your bed away," Nikki told her.

"Don't worry about it, the couch pulls out into a bed I'll be fine," Hayley assured her.

"Thanks again Hayley," Nikki said as she walked to the bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **_I can't believe I allowed this much time to pass since I updated this story. It wasn't for a lack of wanting to but school is basically all I have time for lately. Please try to be patient and I'll do my best to update as often as possible. _

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_All I can say is Tim definitely won't be happy to find his wife and daughter missing. _

**CoolDiva: **_Nope, that wasn't Trent giving the directions. I should have mentioned that this is post Dino Thunder and I'm not sure if Trent or any of the others will be appearing in this story. And there will be many more details about Tim and Nikki to come. Read on to see Tim's first appearance. _

**Riverkirby: **_Yeah, I like Hayley too, which is one reason I chose to make Nikki an old friend of hers. _

**Chylea3784: **_Thanks so much, I hope I can continue to write this story well. _

**Mark61: **_Glad you like it so far._

**Tommy's mistress: **_I'm glad you had me on author alert as well and that you like the story. _

**GinaStar: **_I hope chapter three was worth the wait. _

**ThePink1atReefside: **_I just figured most couches nowadays come with pullout beds. _

**Maddie Miguel: **_Thanks, I love having a new reviewer._

**Traci26: **_I know I've kept you waiting far too long. Hope chapter three doesn't disappoint._

**GracefulCrane: **_Don't worry about sending late reviews; this third chapter was late too. LOL_

**PinkAzn: **_Nope the idea didn't come from Enough but it came while I was a soap opera. _

**General-Joseph Dickson: **_Thanks, hope you'll continue to be interested. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Tommy will most likely make his appearance in the next chapter. _

Tim Durham sat in the back of the limo that had picked him up from the airport. He took out his cell phone and dialed the number to his home. He was sure that Nikki had received the flowers he had sent. It was yet another apology for his temper getting the best of him once again. He hadn't meant for things to get so out of hand but sometimes force was necessary to make sure Nikki did as he told her.

"Durham, residence, Marta speaking," a voice said.

"Marta, its Tim, where's Nikki," he said to the housekeeper who answered.

"I'm not sure Mr. Durham, Mrs. Durham gave me a few days off and when I arrived this morning, I found the house empty," Marta told him.

"Don't worry about it Marta, I'm sure she's just out shopping, I'll try her cell phone," he replied.

"That's what I thought too at first, but Mrs. Durham's car keys are still here and some of her things are missing," Marta replied.

"What kinds of things?" Tim questioned.

"Just some clothes and shoes and some of Emma's clothes are gone as well," Marta said.

Tim wasn't too shocked at hearing this. It wasn't the first time Nikki had left after an argument and taken Emma with her. Tim knew she had gone to her parents' house but he could always count on his mother-in-law to talk some sense into his wife. He picked up the phone and dialed his in-laws.

"Hunter residence," a woman answered.

"Hello Charlotte, its Tim, I'd like to speak with my wife," he said.

"Hello Tim, I'm sorry but Nikki's not here, should I be expecting her," Charlotte replied.

"You mean she hasn't been there at all?" Tim asked.

"No I haven't heard from her since we all had dinner last week, is something wrong," she said.

"We had a little misunderstanding and I'm afraid I was a bit harsh with her before I left on my business trip," Tim told her.

"Oh dear, I do wish my daughter could learn to stop provoking you, I'm afraid she's been stubborn since the day she was born, don't worry I'm sure she'll be home soon," Charlotte replied.

"Maybe she's at Jen's, if she calls kindly tell her that I'm back and I expect for my family to be home in time for dinner," Tim told her.

"Of course I will and if you and Nikki want a little time alone feel free to bring that adorable granddaughter of mine for a visit," Charlotte said before hanging up.

Jen Gordon was sitting at her desk in her home office finishing up her latest children's book. Normally, she would have called Nikki and had her bring over Emma to test it out but those days were over now. Nikki had finally found the courage to leave Tim once and for all. The doorbell rang and Jen ran to answer. She wasn't surprised to find Tim standing on the other side.

"Where is she?" Tim asked as he pushed his way inside her apartment.

"Well hello to you too, won't you come in," Jen said as she closed the door behind him.

"Where is my wife and daughter, their not at her folks house so they must be staying here," Tim told her.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I haven't seen or heard from Nikki in days," Jen said.

"Don't lie, you're her best friend, you really expect me to believe that she hasn't contacted you at all, look I know I really screwed up this time but I'm home now and I'm ready to make things right," Tim replied.

"Look I've tried my best to stay out of your marital life because that's the way Nikki wanted it, if the two of you are having problems then I suggest you go home and work it out with her yourself," Jen said as she walked back towards the door.

"Come on Nikki, enough is enough, it's time to come home now," Tim said as he took off towards the bedroom.

"Excuse me but you can't just come into my home and search my room without permission," Jen said but Tim paid her no heed as he opened the door to find the bedroom empty.

"Where is she?" Tim said and Jen could hear the anger in his voice.

"I don't know and I wouldn't tell you even if I did," Jen replied.

"I know she must have told you something, I'm her husband and I have a right to know where she took my child," Tim told her.

"Like I said, I don't know now kindly get out of my apartment," Jen said.

"Fine, I'll go but if she's not back by tonight I'll be back," Tim said as he stalked out the door.

Nikki stared out the window of Hayley's apartment. She couldn't believe this was happening. She had finally taken her daughter and left Tim. She looked over to the table where Emma sat coloring a picture. How was she ever going to make her daughter understand all of this?

"Mommy, you look sad," Emma said as she stopped drawing to look at her mother.

"I am a little sad but I'll be fine as long as I have you," Nikki said as she walked over and pulled Emma into a hug.

"I miss Daddy, when are we going home," Emma replied.

"I don't know baby, but we can't be with Daddy right now and I don't know if we ever will be again," Nikki told her.

Nikki heard the door open then and watched as Hayley walked in the door carrying a load of groceries.

"Hi Hayley," Emma said flashing Hayley as smile as she walked in. Nikki loved the fact that daughter took to new people so well.

"Hi Emma, I hope you two slept ok," Hayley replied.

"We did thanks again for your bed," Nikki told her as she helped Hayley with the bags.

"I hope you two are planning on staying for a few more days because I bought a lot of food and I even think there may be some chocolate chip cookies in here," Hayley said with a wink at Emma.

"Can we Mommy, can we stay with Hayley?" Emma asked.

"Sure baby, if Hayley doesn't mind then I guess we can stay for a few more days," Nikki replied just grateful to have Emma's mind distracted from missing Tim.

"I don't mind at all, in fact, I can't wait to introduce you to a few friends of mine," Hayley told them.

"Hey Emma, why don't you take your picture and finish it in the living room while I talk to Hayley," Nikki told the little girl.

"Ok Mommy," Emma said as she left.

"Is something the matter?" Hayley asked as she began putting away the food.

"I don't think us meeting your friends is going to be possible, I'm in hiding remember and the less people who know about Emma and me being here the better," Nikki replied.

"Right, I guess I was overly excited about havening you here that's all," Hayley told her.

"I wish we were here under better circumstances, I really appreciate you putting us up like this but I promise it'll only be for a few more days," Nikki said.

"You can stay here as long as you like," Hayley said.

"You say that now but wait until Emma really starts bouncing off the walls then you'll really be begging us to go," Nikki joked.

"Are you kidding, Emma's an absolute angel," Hayley told her.

"Yeah well sometimes I wonder if it was selfish of me to bring her into the world in the first place," Nikki commented.

"Why would you say something like that?" Hayley questioned.

"Because what kind of woman has a child when her husband is an abuser, it was such a selfish thing to do, I thought a child would bring Tim and I closer, I just knew that once we had a child the abuse would stop but instead it just gave Tim more control of me than ever," Nikki replied.

"Oh Nikki, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that," Hayley said.

"He's probably discovered that we're gone by now," Nikki said.

"What do you think he'll do?" Hayley asked.

"Usually after a really big fight I'd run and go to my parents so he'll look there first, Tim would send dozens of flowers saying how sorry he was and then my mother would lecture me about what it meant to be a good wife and that I shouldn't do things that I knew would provoke him and she's convince me to go back," Nikki answered.

"Wait, your parents knew that Tim was abusive?" Hayley questioned.

"Yes, my Mom told me that I should be grateful to have a man to take care of me especially one as rich and successful as Tim and that if I'd only do everything exactly as he said my marriage would be perfect and my father's away on business so much that he's pretty much oblivious to everything," Nikki told her.

"I can't believe your Mom actually thinks it's ok for Tim to hit you, I don't care how rich and successful he is, he doesn't have the right to treat you this way and I promise I'll do whatever I can to make sure he never finds you or Emma ever again," Hayley replied.

"I wish it were that easy, I never should have stayed the night here, I should have kept driving all the way to Mexico or something because Tim will have mine and Emma's faces plastered on every sign and tv screen in the country, we'll never be able to hide from him now," Nikki said.

"Maybe there's way I could tap into the police alert system and prevent anything about you from appearing here in Reefside, at least you'd be safe here for awhile," Hayley told her.

"Hayley I can't ask you to do something illegal like that, if you're caught you could get into some serious trouble," Nikki said. J

"You're not asking, I'm volunteering, I'm not a genius for nothing I think I can make sure I never get caught," Hayley said.

"I don't know how but I will repay you for all your help someday," Nikki promised.

"Keeping you and Emma safe is repayment enough, so does this mean you'll be sticking around here in Reefside for awhile," Hayley said.

"I guess I don't have any other choice," Nikki told her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: **_I decided to speed things up a bit in the story in hopes there won't be too much time between updates. Thanks for being patient with me as I try to juggle my schedule. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Yeah, Nikki's mom is crazy for wanting her to stay with Tim. As for whether she'll help in his search you'll have to keep reading. _

**Chylea3784: **_Hayley can pull off whatever she sets her mind to. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thanks so much for the support, it really makes me happy to know that the friendship between Nikki and Hayley is believable. As for how Tommy meets Nikki well wonder no longer. _

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_I could totally see Hayley willing to do something like that and I'm glad you see it too. I'm also happy that Tim is coming off the way I intended him to. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks for continuing to read and review. _

**Riverkirby: **_Hope you enjoy, sorry for the long wait. _

**PinkAzn: **_Tim won't be getting a beating anytime soon, he has to find them first. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_Wait no longer, Tommy and Nikki will finally meet. _

**ThePink1atReefside: **_If the rangers do make an appearance in the story, it won't be until much later. _

Nikki walked out of Hayley's bathroom and peeped in at Emma who was supposed to be napping. Nikki was relieved to see that Emma had stayed asleep while she took a quick bath. It felt so nice to finally be able to relax without worrying about Tim coming home in a bad mood.

They had been in Reefside for a little over two weeks now and so far no one had come knocking on Hayley's door with questions about them. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that Hayley made good on her promise and hacked into the computer system of the Reefside police. So for now, Nikki could relax.

Hayley sat at her desk in her office at the Cyberspace and once again logged onto the missing person's list put out by the police. Nikki and Emma weren't listed and Hayley wondered why Tim had failed to alert the police about his family's disappearance.

"I finally caught you," a voice said causing Hayley to nearly jump out of her seat and she quickly logged off the computer.

"Tommy, you scared me to death, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I think the better question is what you have been up to lately," Tommy replied.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," she told him.

"Well for the past two weeks, you've blown me off with some lame excuse about being really busy running the cyberspace yet every time I come in you're not here and when I come by your apartment you run out and drag me off somewhere almost as if you had something to hide," Tommy said.

"Oh come on, what would I possibly have to hide from you and besides my apartment is so small, it's not really worth hanging out there," she said.

"What are talking about, we always used to hang out at your place, it's not as if we have a huge group of friends, most of the time it's just you and me and your apartment is plenty big enough," he told her.

"Aren't you the one who's always complaining that I need to tear myself away from the computer and have more of a social life," Hayley replied.

"Yeah but hanging out at home is still ok, in fact I just picked up some sandwiches for lunch, what do you say we go eat them at your place," Tommy said.

"I have far too much work to do, can you take a rain check on lunch," she responded.

"Um sure, whatever you say Hayley but I still think you're up to something," Tommy said as he left.

Some time later, Hayley entered her apartment carrying a bag which she sat down on the coffee table. She was soon greeted by Emma who came running out of her room and nearly tackled her with a hug.

"Well hello to you too," Hayley laughed.

"Sorry about that Hayley, with us being cooped up here in the apartment you coming home is the most exciting thing for Emma," Nikki told her.

"I thought you might be feeling that way so I thought that we could maybe take a picnic in the park," Hayley replied.

"Can we Mommy, can we," Emma begged.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that's possible remember what Mommy told you we're playing a little game of hide and seek and we don't want to be found to early," Nikki told her.

"Nikki, it's ok, I think I found a way that we can go to the park and you can still stay in hiding," Hayley said.

"Ok, Hayley let's hear it," Nikki responded.

"Emma, how would like to play a game and dress up at the same time," Hayley said as she took something out of the bag.

"How do we play?" Emma asked as Hayley held a red wig in her hand.

"You and Mommy put on these wigs and we pretend that Mommy's my sister and you are my adorable niece but only if someone asks, do you think you can do that," Hayley answered.

"Oh Hayley, I don't know if this is such a good idea, I don't look a thing like your sister," Nikki replied.

"Well, no one else needs to know that besides my sister's never been to Reefside so no one will know a thing about her," Hayley told her.

"Mommy, I wanna play Hayley's game," Emma said.

"Nikki, you know I wouldn't suggest this outing if I thought it would put you or Emma at risk," Hayley said.

"I know you wouldn't Hayley, I'm not really up to an outing just yet, it's one thing to tell people I'm your sister but it's another thing entirely to explain why I showed up here with all these bruises," Nikki replied.

"Oh Nikki, they're hardly even visible anymore," Hayley said.

"I don't want to go but if you're still interested in taking Emma then I think it's ok, I know I can trust you to take care of her," Nikki said.

"You won't regret this, I promise," Hayley said as she helped Emma put on the wig.

"Bye, Mommy," Emma called once she and Hayley were ready to leave.

"Bye sweetie, be a good girl for Hayley ok," Nikki said.

Tommy sat in his car about a block from Hayley's apartment. He hadn't meant to spy on her but something in his gut told him that something was definitely going on with her. He had never known Hayley to be this secretive about her life before and Tommy was worried that she was somehow in trouble. He ducked his head as he noticed her car pulling out from the apartment building.

He started his car and began to follow her. He followed her all the way to the parking lot of the Cyberspace. _Great job Oliver, you followed her all this way and she's going to work. _Suddenly it occurred to him that whatever was going on had something to do with the fact she didn't want him coming over to her apartment anymore. He left the Cyberspace and headed back to her apartment.

Now that she was alone in Hayley's apartment, Nikki decided it was time to pay back her friend for all her help. She knew that Hayley would never accept money so she decided the next best thing was to clean the apartment from top to bottom. She went into the kitchen in search of some cleaning supplies.

Tommy stood outside the door of Hayley's apartment and fished in his pocket for his keys. He felt a twinge of guilt for what he was about to do but it wasn't like he was breaking and entering. Hayley had given him a key for emergencies so he would just let himself in and see for himself what she was hiding. Tommy opened to door and was surprised to find that it was unlocked. He walked into the living room and began to look around for anything suspicious. He was about to make his way into the kitchen when he felt something hard hit the back of his head and everything went black.

"Oh god, what did I just do," Nikki screeched as she dropped the bookend on the ground and looked down at the man she had just hit over the head.

She knelt down and was relieved to find that he was still breathing. Nikki stared at his face and had the strange feeling she'd seen him somewhere before. She looked up at the bookshelf and saw a picture of the man with Hayley.

"Great, I almost killed Hayley's boyfriend," Nikki said as she got up and ran to the kitchen.

Tommy slowly opened his eyes and immediately his head filled with pain. He slowly started to sit up.

"Oh thank goodness, you're ok, here I think you might need this," a woman said as she handed him an ice pack.

"Who the hell are you and why did you hit me?" he asked as he tried to stand up.

"Oh be careful, you might want to stay seated for a few minutes, you could have a concussion or something," she told him.

"Yeah, thanks to you," he said.

"I'm really sorry, if I had known who you were I never would have hit you, I just got scared seeing some strange man lurking around the apartment," she replied.

"I wasn't lurking, I have a key and the only stranger here is you," he said as he got up and took a seat on the couch.

"I'm an old friend of Hayley's, I'm just visiting for awhile," she said as she took a seat in a chair across from him.

"So that's what Hayley's been hiding, an old friend, I don't understand why she couldn't just tell me that," he said as he continued to hold the ice pack to his head.

"I'm afraid that's my fault, I asked her not to say anything cause I'm not planning on being here long, in fact I think I may have overstayed my welcome," she told him.

"Don't leave on my account, I probably should have knocked instead of letting myself in but I didn't expect for there to be anyone in here, I'm Tommy by the way," he said.

"Nice to meet you Tommy, I really am sorry for hitting you," she said with a smile.

"It's ok, I've been through worse, I have a pretty thick skull," he responded.

"Well Hayley's not here at the moment but I'll be sure to let her know you stopped by," Nikki said standing up.

"I hope you're not trying to get rid of me because I'm not going anywhere, I might have a concussion remember so I think it's best that I stay here for awhile," he said.

"Look I'm not sure when Hayley's going to be back, if you want I could maybe drive you home and then explain things to Hayley when she gets back," she replied.

"No thanks, I live too far for that, why do I get the feeling that you're trying to get rid of me," he said.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you, you're Hayley's boyfriend and you have a key so you have as much right to be here as I do," she told him.

"What makes you think I'm Hayley's boyfriend?" he questioned.

"Well there are pictures of the two of you all over the room not to mention the fact that you have a key to her apartment," she replied.

"Hayley and I are just friends, we have been ever since college and I have a key for emergencies," he informed her.

"Oh really and what sort of emergency did you think Hayley had that prompted you letting yourself into her apartment today?" she inquired.

"Nothing, it's just Hayley's been so secretive lately that I was starting to worry about her," he replied.

"Oh so you were spying on her, hoping to maybe find something that would give you a clue to what's going on," she remarked.

"Yeah, I know it's not exactly the honorable thing to do but I did find something didn't I," he said.

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"You, who by the way have failed to give me your name," he said.

"I'm Robin," she told him just as the door to the apartment was opened.

"Nikki, we're back," Hayley called.

"Mommy, Hayley and I had so much fun at the park," Emma said as she ran over to her mother.

"I'm so glad, I missed you," Nikki said smiling.

"Mommy, who's this?" Emma asked pointing at Tommy.

"Emma, this is a friend of mine," Hayley said shocked to find Tommy sitting on the couch.

"Hello Emma, my name is Tommy," he told her.

"Do I still have to pretend to be your niece?" Emma asked Hayley as she pulled the red wig off her head.

"No baby, the game is over for today, why don't you go to Hayley's room and Mommy will join you in a second," Nikki answered.

"Can I watch tv?" Emma asked.

"Just this once," Nikki said as the little girl ran off.

"Tommy what are you doing here and why are you holding that ice pack?" Hayley asked.

"I'm afraid that's my fault I hit him over the head, I didn't realize he had a key to the apartment and he startled me," Nikki explained.

"I was worried about you, so I can to see if I could find out what was going on," Tommy told her.

"Wait, you mean you broke into my apartment to spy on me," Hayley said.

"Well technically, I didn't break in because I have a key remember," Tommy said.

"That's beside the point, I can't believe you did this," Hayley told him.

"Excuse me for being worried that something fishy was going on around here and I guess I was right because Nikki here told me her name was Robin and her little girl was out with you wearing a red wig and pretending to be your niece," Tommy responded.

"That's really none of your concern," Hayley replied.

"I think it is, because you've never kept anything from me and I want to know why that's changed all of a sudden," Tommy told her.

"You know Hayley, I think it's time that Emma and I hit the road, I never meant for this to cause you any problems," Nikki said as she got up from the chair and started to walk away.

"Nikki, please don't leave," Hayley pleaded.

"Wait, I didn't mean to upset you," Tommy said as he ran after her and grabbed her by the arm forcing her to turn around.

"No, please don't hit me," Nikki said in fear.

"What are talking about I'm not going to hit you," Tommy said as he let go.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that but for a minute I forgot where I was and I thought you were someone else, I'm so embarrassed," Nikki said as she began to cry.

"Nikki, its ok, Tim's not here, he can't hurt you anymore," Hayley said as she pulled Nikki into a hug.

"Hayley, what's going on here?" Tommy asked confused.

"Nikki, I really think we should tell him, you can trust him I promise," Hayley told her.

"I told you, it's time for me to go," Nikki said.

"No, I'm not letting you back on the run, please stay, I know Tommy will help us if you'll only let him," Hayley responded.

"Any friend of Hayley's is a friend of mine, I want to help if you'll let me," Tommy told her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: **_School is now over so I have no more excuses for not updating this story more often. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Thanks!_

**CoolDiva: **_Thanks, I really wanted to be creative with Tommy and Nikki's first meeting. As for Tim, you haven't seen the last from him. _

**Tommy's Mistress: **_I thought everyone would get a kick out of Tommy getting knocked out like that. Glad to know I'm keeping things realistic. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_ It just made sense that Nikki would assume that Tommy was Hayley's boyfriend. _

**Chylea3784: **_Thanks, sometimes I rush a lot when I really want to get something updated and I don't take the time to reread the chapter before I post it so mistakes do tend to make it to the final copy. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Tommy will be in the picture from now on. _

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_I'm glad that my readers were able to actually imagine the scene coming to life. I must be getting better at this whole writing thing. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks!_

**PinkAzn: **_Yes, Tommy and Nikki have finally met but it'll still be awhile before Tim finds them. _

**Gabi-The-Gorgeous: **_Thanks for taking the time to read the story. _

"It's about time," Hayley commented as she looked out Tommy's kitchen window and watched as Nikki played with Emma in the back yard.

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked as they continued washing and drying the dishes from lunch.

"Nikki and Emma have been here a month and today is the first time I've seen Nikki really relax and enjoy herself," Hayley replied.

"Can you really blame her for keeping her guard up, her psycho husband is still out there somewhere and it may only be a matter of time before he finds her," Tommy replied.

"Please don't let Nikki hear you say that, it was hard enough convincing her that it was safe enough to leave my apartment and come here for lunch," she said.

"So there really haven't been any missing person's reports filled for her or Emma?" Tommy questioned.

"Not so far which really has me wondering what could possibly be keeping Tim so long from reporting his family missing to the police," Hayley answered.

"What does Nikki say, surely she must have told you something about Tim that could give us a clue into what he could be thinking," Tommy replied.

"No, she's been pretty tight-lipped about everything, I think she's embarrassed that she let the abuse go on for as long as it did, she tries to pretend that she's ok but she's had a few nightmares and now she's afraid to go to sleep because she doesn't want to scare Emma," Hayley told him.

"Well she's lucky to have such a great friend like you to be there for her," Tommy said.

"Thanks, you're a great friend yourself for keeping their presence in Reefside a secret," Hayley remarked.

"Nikki's a nice person and Emma's adorable, they deserve to be happy and safe and I'll do whatever I can to help you make sure they're never found," Tommy told her.

"Hey Emma, how would you like to go for a walk in the woods with me and pick some flowers for your mommy?" Hayley asked as she and Tommy stepped outside.

"Can I Mommy?" Emma asked.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Nikki said.

"Please Mommy, I haven't been outside in forever," Emma pouted.

"I promise she'll be safe," Hayley said.

"You should let them go, we're so far out that I can assure you no one else is around so you don't have to worry," Tommy told her.

"Alright but don't stay gone too long," Nikki said.

"We won't, we'll be back before you know it," Hayley said as she took Emma's hand and they walked out of the yard.

"You know you're really beautiful when you smile, you should do it more often," Tommy remarked once he and Nikki were alone.

"It's nice to have something to smile about, it was really sweet of you to let Emma and me visit your home, this was just what she needed and she hasn't mentioned missing her father once," Nikki replied.

"Speaking of Emma's father, why do you think he's waited this long to report you missing," Tommy asked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure, I mean Tim is a very successful businessman and his family is loaded so I thought he would spare no expensive in trying to track us down," Nikki answered.

"Maybe he thinks you'll come back," Tommy said.

"I'm not proud to admit this but normally I would've gone back, I used to run to my parents house but my mom would convince me that it was in the best interest of Emma to have both her parents together and I would go back," Nikki replied.

"So why did you finally leave?" Tommy inquired.

"Because for the first time I actually thought he was going to kill me, I mean don't get me wrong the other beatings were scary and I've been beaten up badly but this last time there was this look of pure evil in Tim's eyes, he was just so angry with me and if the doorbell hadn't rung he probably would have strangled me to death and all I could think when he walked out the door was if I died he'd be left to raise Emma and I realized I couldn't stay with him anymore because as much as I wanted my daughter to grow up in a home with two parents I knew eventually she'd grow up and I'd have to explain to her why I left her father treat me that way and that is a conversation I never want to have with her," Nikki explained.

"Part of me almost wishes he would show up here in Reefside, I'd love to beat him black and blue and see how he likes it," Tommy replied.

"You'd really do that, you barely know me," Nikki remarked.

"I know enough to know that no man has a right to hit a woman I don't care who he is but no I wouldn't beat him if he showed up, I'd like to but there's this rule against using martial arts for personal reasons but I would definitely fight him if I was provoked," Tommy told her.

"As much as I'd love for Tim to get a taste of his own medicine, I would rather never see him again which is why I think it's time for Emma and I to hit the road, Tim hasn't reported us missing so I've got to disappear while I still can, maybe I'll head to Mexico," Nikki told him.

"You really think you and Emma will be happy in Mexico, why don't you stay here, Tim doesn't even know Hayley so this'll be the last place he'd look," Tommy replied.

"We can't stay with Hayley for the rest of our lives, and I think she'd eventually want her room back, the best thing for Emma and me is to go somewhere that we can start over and have a new life," Nikki said.

"Or you could move in with me until we find a way to get you free from Tim," Tommy said.

"I'm sorry but did you just ask me to move in with you," Nikki said surprised.

"Yeah, this place has always been way to big for one person, I have plenty of room and you and Emma wouldn't be taking any space away from me if that's what you're worried about," Tommy replied.

"But you hardly know me and Emma is only three I don't think you realize what it's like living with a child," Nikki told him.

"Hayley cares a lot about you and that's enough for me and as for Emma I'm crazy about that kid, you know she hates being cooped up in Hayley's apartment and here she'd have a whole yard to play in and you'd never have to worry about someone seeing her or finding out that you're here," Tommy said.

"I don't know Tommy, it sounds like a great idea but I can't ask you to rearrange your life to take in two complete strangers," Nikki replied.

"You didn't ask, I volunteered, I just hate thinking of you traveling all alone in fear of Tim finding you especially since you have Emma, just give it a try and if you don't like living here you can leave whenever you want," Tommy told her.

"This is crazy I can't believe I'm actually considering it," Nikki remarked.

"Considering what?" Hayley asked as she and Emma returned.

"I offered to let Nikki and Emma stay here for awhile," Tommy answered.

"That's a great idea, in fact it's perfect, hardly anyone travels this far out and you and Emma could be free to roam around outside plus Tommy has plenty of room not that I mind having you at my place it'll just be easier for you to hide here," Hayley said.

"What do you think Emma would you be ok staying here at Tommy's?" Nikki asked her daughter.

"Yes Mommy, I like it here," Emma replied.

"What about you?" Tommy asked Nikki.

"I guess you have yourself some new roommates but you have to promise to tell me the minute we start getting in the way," Nikki answered.

Meanwhile in their home in Denver, Tim sat in his office with the private investigator that he had hired to track down his wife and daughter.

"Did you find them?" he asked.

"Sorry Mr. Durham but I've made several inquires about the night your wife and daughter disappeared and none of the neighbors seem to remember anything, I also checked out all the places you thought Nikki might run to and so far there's been no sign of a woman or child fitting their descriptions," Pat Williams told his client.

"What about Jen Gordon?" Tim questioned.

"I've been following her around for weeks and so far your wife hasn't contacted her," Pat answered.

"Alright so we start looking elsewhere, I want you to do a background check on my wife, I want the names of every friend, relative no matter how insignificant you think they are, someone knows where she's taken my daughter and I want them back," Tim replied.

"I'll get started on it right away but don't you think it's time you involved the police, even though she's her mother your wife taking your daughter without your knowledge could be considered kidnapping, we could start an Amber Alert in every state and I'm sure someone would recognize them," Pat said.

"No, I don't want the authorities or the press for that matter to know about this, I'm not going to let that bitch of a wife make me the laughing stock of the whole city, no I want them found and brought back here and then I'm going to divorce Nikki, get custody of Emma and then make sure Nikki never sees my daughter again," Tim replied.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you wanted to work things out with your wife," Pat told him.

"I might have if she had returned on her own like I thought she would but now I realize she's trying to punish me by taking away my daughter, Emma is my daughter and I want her back at all costs, and I don't pay you to have opinions one way or the other about my situation, just get out there and find my daughter," Tim said.

"Of course Mr. Durham whatever you want, I'll start with Nikki's parents maybe they have some insight into who your wife might go to if she wanted to disappear," Pat said as he walked out of the office.

"You know that kidnapping thing could work to our advantage and give us the sympathy vote, picture it, you a devoted husband whose wife deserts him and takes the daughter he adored, we could paint Nikki as an unfit mother and I'm sure her mother would be more than happy to make a statement about how unstable Nikki was as a wife but that you always took her back and no one can deny what a great father you are," Victor Durham told his son.

"What if Nikki tried to defend herself by telling people about my bad temper?" Tim asked.

"There's no proof, she never reported you or went to a hospital for treatment, as far as anyone knows you had a perfect marriage, if she tried to say anything we could make her look like a liar," his father replied.

"That could work but I say we wait until Williams has more time to search, I don't want to start off my campaign for congressman with a huge scandal, it's better we handle this in private and Nikki better not fight me for custody or maybe I'll become a poor widow raising his precious daughter alone," Tim replied.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: **_Once again, thanks to all who read and review this story!! After some thought, I decided to up the rating on this story because of future chapters._

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_Don't worry, Tim the psycho will get what's coming to him just not yet. _

**CoolDiva: **_There more insight into Nikki's life to come and as for their living situation I hope it turns out to be as interesting as I have envisioned it. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Thanks, I thought Tommy and Nikki living together would be interesting, just hope I can pull it off the way I want. _

**Graceful Crane: **_Is this update soon enough for you?_

**Tommy's Mistress: **_Tommy and Tim will definitely meet just not yet. _

**Yellow dino ranger: **_Thanks, always glad to have a new reader and reviewer!!_

**Chylea3784: **_Yeah, Tim's a real snake and I'm afraid he's not gonna give up the search for his family so easily. _

**GinaStar: **_Oops, I guess I should read through the chapter before submitting it. I do sometimes but then others I'm just anxious to get it out thanks for the correction. _

**general-josesph-dickson: **_Good then Tim is coming off exactly the way I wanted him to. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_Things should definitely get more interesting with this new living situation. _

"Welcome to your new home," Tommy said as he opened the door for Nikki, Emma and Hayley who was with them.

"Thanks again for letting us move in here," Nikki replied as she entered the house carrying the only bag she had packed while Hayley held Emma's suitcase.

"It's my pleasure, I think we're all going to get along great," Tommy said with a smile.

"Do I get my own room?" Emma asked.

"Emma, Tommy is doing a nice thing by letting us move in here, it doesn't matter if you get your own room or not," Nikki scolded her.

"No it's ok, I wasn't sure if she'd want to be away from you but there's more than enough space for both of you to have your own rooms," Tommy told her.

"Are you sure because the last thing I want to do is come in and take over your house," Nikki replied.

"I'm sure, come on Emma let me show your room," Tommy said as he held out his hand to Emma.

"I'll be there in a second," Nikki called after them.

"See I told you everything would be fine," Hayley commented after she and Nikki were left alone in the living room.

"How can everything be fine, I've just moved myself and my daughter into the home of a man that I barely know," Nikki said.

"Well living together will definitely solve that problem," Hayley remarked.

"We're not living together, that makes it sound like something its not, Emma and I are just boarding here for the time being, there's no reason our being here has to affect Tommy's life at all," Nikki replied.

"Nikki, you're being awfully sensitive about this, do you have a problem with Tommy?" Hayley questioned.

"Of course not, like I said I barely know the guy, and it's really sweet of him to offer his house to us I just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea," Nikki told her.

"The only person who even knows you're living here is me and I know the situation so you can relax," Hayley replied.

"I know just forget I said anything, I just keep thinking of what my mother would say if she knew I left Tim and took Emma to move in with some attractive man that I barely know," Nikki responded.

"Oh now I get it, you're feeling guilty because you think Tommy is attractive," Hayley said.

"No, no, ok, maybe a little, it's just that he told me I was beautiful yesterday and it felt really good to be noticed, its just been so long since I've had any man say that to me, sorry it's stupid, he was just trying to be nice," Nikki told her.

"He is nice and that's why you living here is good thing, Tommy will look out for you and Emma and trust me when I say he will do anything to protect you from Tim because that's just the kind of guy he is," Hayley replied.

"You know Tim would definitely kill me if he heard what I just said about Tommy, he hated it when any guy would take notice of me and he used to get so mad when we'd go to parties, I wasn't even allowed to talk to another man unless Tim was standing beside me and even then I had to be careful how I acted around them," Nikki informed her.

_Nikki and Tim returned home from a party that had been thrown by his father's company. Tim had been working there since their wedding which had been a year earlier. _

"_I am so glad to be home," Nikki said as she sat down on the bed and kicked off her shoes. _

"_Really, you seemed to be enjoying yourself," Tim remarked. _

"_Enjoying myself, I couldn't wait to get out of there, all that talk about the stock market and business wagers, honestly I don't know why we have to go to those things," Nikki replied. _

"_You certainly enjoyed Rick Myers' company, how do you think I felt when I looked up and there you were throwing yourself as some other guy," Tim retorted angrily. _

"_Tim, I would never throw myself at anyone, Rick heard that I was an art major in college and he was simply asking me a few questions, what should I done ignored him," Nikki spat. _

"_Are you calling me a liar, I know what I saw," Tim told her. _

"_Maybe you shouldn't drink so much at the next party because your eyes were definitely playing tricks on you," Nikki said with a laugh._

"_Don't ever tell me what I should or shouldn't do," Tim said as he hit her across the face with a hard slap._

"_I can't believe you just hit me, what the hell is wrong with you," Nikki cried._

"_What's wrong, what's wrong is I have an ungrateful bitch as a wife who can't even go to a party without acting like a common slut," he said as he grabbed her wrists and held her down on the bed._

"_Tim stop it you're scaring me," Nikki said as she struggled to get free of his grasp. _

"_You were nothing until I married you, I've given you the best life has to offer and you repay me by flirting with another man," Tim yelled as Nikki began to cry. _

"_I'm sorry, ok I'm sorry, I promise next time I won't say anything to anyone," Nikki told him. _

"_What and have people think my wife is an ice queen," Tim replied. _

"_You get mad at me for talking to one man and you get even angrier when I say I won't talk at all, what do you want from me?" Nikki asked. _

"_What I want is a wife who knows her place and believe me after tonight you won't dare look at another man," Tim said as he pinned her down and began tearing off her dress._

"_Tim, please don't, not like this," Nikki pleaded. _

"_Shut up, you're going to learn your lesson," Tim told her as he continued to hold her down and hit her once more. _

"Nikki, are you alright?" Hayley asked concerned when she noticed tears forming in Nikki's eyes.

"I'm sorry Hayley, what were we talking about again," Nikki said coming back to reality.

"About you not feeling guilty for being attracted to Tommy," Hayley said.

"Look I said he was cute but I'm not attracted to him, I'm married so whatever attraction I feel for him means nothing," Nikki told her.

"What were you thinking about just now?" Hayley questioned.

"Nothing, let's just drop it," Nikki said.

"Emma's all settled in her room, I told her we could redecorate it any color she wants and she seems pretty excited," Tommy said as he came downstairs.

"Let me guess she wanted everything to be pink," Hayley replied.

"Actually, she said purple," Tommy told her.

"Purple is her favorite color, but Tommy you do not have to redecorate," Nikki said joining the conversation.

"I don't mind, I just want Emma to feel like this is her home, it can't be easy on her getting taken away from the only home she's known, I just thought if she could decorate her room her she'd be less homesick," Tommy replied.

"I think it's a great idea, and Tommy's right it will take Emma's mind off of things," Hayley told her.

"Ok, if you're ok with Emma changing the room then its fine," Nikki decided.

"Great, now Madame let me show you to your room," Tommy said as he held out his hand to Nikki.

"Thanks but I don't need the escort just tell me where it is and I'm sure I can find it by myself," Nikki said ignoring the hand and picking up her suitcase.

"It's at the top of the stairs first door to your right, it's across from Emma's you can't miss it," Tommy informed her.

"I'll just go get settled in, thanks again for letting us move in," Nikki said as she fled from the room.

"Is she ok?" Tommy asked Hayley.

"She'll be fine, she just needs to get used to the idea of living here," Hayley answered.

"I just want her to feel that she's safe here," Tommy told her.

"She will just give it some time," Hayley replied.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: **_I'm glad to see that everyone is still enjoying this story. I will try to keep the updates coming. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thanks so much, I was really worried about how this chapter would come out. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Sorry but Tim's safe from Tommy's wrath for now. _

**Chylea3784: **_Thanks, I try. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_I'm not sure how or when Tommy's past will come up. _

**GinaStar: **_I know, poor Nikki's been through a lot but for now she's safe. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Glad I could make your day!_

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_I may just ask you for suggestions when it comes time for Tim's death._

**PinkAzn: **_You'll have to keep reading to find out whether falling in love will lead to wedding bells. _

The next morning, Nikki woke up early despite the fact that she hadn't gotten much sleep. She will still afraid of having a nightmare and she didn't want to scare Emma if she started screaming in the middle of the night. She left her room and headed down the hallway, she noticed that Tommy's bedroom door was open which meant he was probably awake.

"Good morning, I made coffee if you want some," Tommy greeted her as he sat at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.

"Thanks, I'd love some," she replied.

"The cups are in the cabinet above the stove," he told her.

"You're up awfully early, I figured Saturdays would be your day to sleep in," Nikki remarked as she joined him at the table.

"They usually are but I'm working on a surprise for Emma and I wanted to get it done before she woke up," he explained.

"A surprise for Emma?" Nikki inquired.

"Follow me to the backyard and I'll show you," Tommy told her.

"Tommy, we just moved in here yesterday, when did you have time to get this," Nikki remarked as she followed him outside and saw the surprise.

"Last night when I went out to buy groceries, I didn't know how you'd feel about me getting her a swing set so I thought a playhouse was the next best thing and it's purple so I just knew she'd love it," Tommy explained.

"It's wonderful, I can't believe you did this, you do realize that Emma is going to force you to have tea parties with her in there," Nikki said seeing that the playhouse came with a small table and chairs.

"I'd be happy to, I'm sure Emma's tea parties are great," he said with a smile.

"Well you have to let me pay you back, how much was this thing," Nikki replied.

"You're not paying me anything, this is my gift to Emma," Tommy told her.

"But we're already living in your house rent free not to mention the fact that you're letting Emma redecorate a room in your house at least let me pay for whatever goes into the room," Nikki said.

"We can sort out the details of whose paying for what later, now if you don't mind I'd like to finish this before Emma wakes up," Tommy said.

"Fine, I'll go check on Emma and try and keep her inside until you're done," Nikki replied.

"I didn't expect you to be up," Hayley remarked as Nikki reentered the kitchen where Hayley had started making breakfast.

"Oh my gosh, Hayley you scared me," Nikki said giving her friend a hug.

"Sorry I have a key, I just wanted to check and see how your first night here went, and then I thought as long as I'm here I might as well cook breakfast," Hayley replied.

"You didn't have to, I was actually on my way to do that, Tommy's being really great, in fact you should look out the window and see what he's doing," Nikki told her.

"He's putting together a playhouse for Emma, how sweet," Hayley said with a smile.

"Yeah it is, why does he have to be such a great guy, do you know how hard it's going to be not to fall in love with a guy like that," Nikki said.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, maybe it's fate you coming here to Reefside," Hayley replied.

"Oh yeah, fate wants me to fall in love with a guy that I can never be with, I'm not exactly free to fall in love and it wouldn't be fair to Tommy, no we have to be strictly friends and nothing else," Nikki told her.

"Nikki, do you still love Tim?" Hayley asked.

"No, I stopped loving Tim years ago, it's Emma I love and that's why I didn't leave Tim because I thought my daughter needed a father but I eventually realized that what Emma needed was a mother who was strong enough to finally get out of that situation," Nikki answered.

"Sounds like you're free to fall in love to me," Hayley commented.

"Oh Hayley, what are you Tommy's matchmaker or something, how do you even know he'd want to fall in love with me," said Nikki.

"I happen to be best friends with both of you and I think you'd be great together but don't worry I won't interfere in anyway, I'll just let nature take its course," Hayley replied.

"Well nature is not going to get any help from me, I don't care how sweet he is or how good he is with Emma I will not let myself fall for Tommy," Nikki decided.

"Mommy, mommy," Emma yelled.

"I better go check on her," Nikki said as she ran upstairs.

"Good morning Emma, would you like something to eat," Hayley said when Nikki brought her into the kitchen.

"Hi Hayley," Emma said as Nikki sat her down at the table and Hayley brought her some food.

"Hayley, what are you doing here?" Tommy asked as he came inside.

"Making you breakfast, just call it a reward for your good deed," Hayley said with a smile.

"Thanks, I'm starving, good morning Emma," Tommy said as he took a seat next to Nikki.

"Good morning Tommy," Emma told him.

"I have a surprise out in the back yard for you," Tommy told her.

"What is it?" Emma said about to jump up from the table.

"Finish your breakfast first and then Tommy can show you," Nikki said.

"Slow down there kiddo, the surprise isn't going anywhere," Tommy laughed as Emma began shoving the rest of her food in her mouth.

"Now can I have my surprise?" Emma asked and the three adults couldn't help laughing.

"Emma be patient, let Tommy finish eating," Nikki answered.

"Ok Emma, I'm done, let's go," Tommy told her.

Tommy took Emma's hand and led her to the back yard where her surprise was waiting with Nikki and Hayley following behind them.

"Oh wow, is that for me," Emma gasped when she set eyes on the playhouse.

"It's all yours," Tommy said.

"Thank you Tommy," she said as she turned around to give him a hug.

"You're welcome Emma," he said as she ran towards the playhouse.

"You have just become her favorite person," Nikki commented.

"Mommy, Hayley come see," Emma yelled.

"We're coming sweetie," Nikki said as she and Hayley walked over to Emma.

"Emma, I hope you'll invite me over for tea parties," Hayley remarked as Emma sat inside the playhouse.

"I don't have a tea set, Mommy wouldn't let me bring it," Emma said sadly.

"Emma, I already explained to you that we couldn't bring a lot of things with us," Nikki told her.

"Sounds like my niece and I need to go out shopping for a few accessories for this playhouse," Hayley said.

"Oh Mommy, can we, can we please," Emma pleaded.

"Hayley don't you need to get to work?" Nikki questioned.

"Nope my staff is fully capable of running the Cyberspace until I get there and besides I wouldn't be able to get any work done knowing that Emma here was without a tea set, come on Emma let's get you dressed and then we're going out shopping," Hayley told her.

"Don't worry they'll be fine," Tommy said as Hayley took Emma upstairs and he and Nikki were left alone.

"I just don't want people asking a lot of questions about Hayley suddenly having a niece," Nikki replied.

"Hayley knows how to be careful, she won't let anything happen to Emma while their gone," Tommy assured her.

"Ok, we're all set," Hayley said as she and Emma returned downstairs with Emma wearing a red wig.

"Hold on just a second," Nikki said as she ran upstairs to her bedroom and took out some cash.

"What's this for?" Hayley asked when Nikki handed her the cash.

"It's for the tea set and anything else Emma wants for the playhouse," Nikki told her.

"Nikki, I want to buy the tea set for her myself, you need to save your money for when it's safe for you to leave," Hayley replied.

"I still have plenty of money, I just don't want to keep free loading off of you, now take the money and when you run out don't you dare buy anything else, I don't care how much Emma begs you," Nikki said.

"Your Mommy's pretty stubborn you know that," Hayley remarked as she and Emma left.

"Thank you so much, what you did for Emma was wonderful, you've really made her happy and for once I think she's forgotten the fact that she's away from her home," Nikki told Tommy.

"I was happy to do it, I only wish I knew how to do the same for her mother," Tommy replied.

"You did, I mean seeing Emma so happy helped me forget for a little while the real reason we ended up here," Nikki said.

"In the spirit of helping you forget things, tell me what were you and Hayley like in high school," Tommy said taking a seat on the couch while Nikki sat in a chair across from him.

"Ok, well Hayley of course was the smart one, and I was the dumb cheerleader, ok I wasn't that dumb but I was failing one class and Hayley ended up being my tutor, we were complete opposites but somehow we ended up being really good friends even after she helped me get an A I didn't want to stop being friends with her, as you can imagine the rest of the cheerleaders thought I was crazy for hanging out with her but Hayley didn't treat me like the popular cheerleader who wasn't supposed to care about school, she actually made me want to learn but don't get me wrong it wasn't always about school with Hayley, she didn't like to admit it but she liked to party and have fun just as much as the other kids did," Nikki informed him.

"Hayley and partying, I just can't picture it," Tommy said with a laugh.

"I'm afraid that was my influence on her, I haven't thought about high school in so long, Hayley and I were always joined at the hip that is until her family moved away senior year, of course we kept in touch as much as we could but without Hayley there I soon got wrapped up into the whole popularity thing and Hayley made new friends at her new school and slowly the letters and phone calls just stopped and we never saw each other again," Nikki explained.

"I know what that's like, moving away I mean, I was the new kid at Angel Grove High and I ended up competing in the Martial Arts Expo against Jason who would later become my best friend, at school the first person I met was Kimberly, she was being hassled by the school bullies and I stuck up for her, after that she invited me to the youth center to met the rest of her friends," Tommy told her.

"So even then you were rescuing damsels in distress," Nikki commented.

"I guess so," Tommy said with a laugh.

"I'll bet you had a lot of girls chasing after you in high school," Nikki remarked.

"I wouldn't know, I only had eyes for Kim back then that is until she left to train for the Pan Globals and broke up with me in a letter," Tommy said.

"Ouch, that must have hurt," Nikki said.

"It did but I eventually got over it and I started dating my friend Katherine until graduation and she left to study ballet in London so we mutually decided to just be friends," Tommy explained.

"Whatever happened to them?" Nikki asked.

"They're both married with families, Kim to my best friend Jason and Kat to another friend Rocky," Tommy answered.

"And all of you have managed to stay friends?" Nikki questioned.

"Yeah, I know it's weird but I think things worked out the way they were supposed to and I couldn't be happier for them," Tommy told her.

"So I heard that you had long hair once upon a time," Nikki said.

"Hayley has a big mouth," Tommy replied.

"You know I think seeing some pictures of you back in high school would definitely help me with the whole forgetting my troubles thing," Nikki said with a laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **_Thanks to my fellow forum ranger moonlite-n-roses for review #70!!! I know you guys probably thought I didn't see that post but I guess I'll be pink if I really have to. LOL_

**GinaStar: **_Yeah, I had to find some way to lighten the mood of the story so why not Tommy busting out the high school yearbook. _

**CoolDiva: **_You know me, I can't resist a chance to pair up Kim and Jason. Maybe, they'll make an appearance in this story. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_I'm sure the subject of Tommy's ranger past will come up eventually. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Thanks, I paired Kim and Jason in this fic just for those of you still waiting patiently for A Season of Revelation. _

**PinkAzn: **_I like Kim with Jason especially since I learned they were supposed to be a couple in the Turbo movie but it was cut out because of time limits or something._

**HarryPassionFan: **_Yeah, I wanted to show Tommy getting along with Emma as well as getting to know Nikki better. _

**Chylea3784: **_Glad to know I'm keeping Tommy in character. _

**Moonlite-n-roses: **_Who says geniuses don't know how to have fun? LOL_

"_You really love to try my patience don't you," Tim said as he stood in the doorway of the nursery._

"_Tim, I didn't realize how late it was," Nikki said as she sat in a rocking chair holding their infant daughter. _

"_Put the baby down now," he ordered. _

_Nikki stood up, walked over to the crib and gently laid the baby down. She then turned off the lights and headed into the hallway where Tim was waiting. _

"_I thought it was understood that I expect for my dinner to be prepared on time," Tim said as he slapped her across the face. _

"_Tim, I'm sorry, Emma was really fussy tonight and I couldn't get her to sleep," Nikki said as she held the side of her face. _

"_I offered to hire a nanny to help with the baby but you swore you could handle it," he said. _

"_I can, I will, I can make you something right now, I'll get better at this I promise," Nikki told him. _

"_You said that two days ago and still nothing's changed, I thought you would have learned your lesson by now but I guess I'll have to show you once again what happens when you don't do what I expect," he said. _

"_No Tim, please don't hurt me again, I'll do better I will," Nikki pleaded but Tim responded once more by punching her in the face. _

_Nikki landed on the floor and wiped the blood from her lips. Tim grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her towards their bedroom. Once there he forcefully grabbed her arms and threw her on the bed. Nikki knew what was coming next, she heard the sound of his zipper being undone. She willed herself to get up and ran for the door. _

"_Where do you think you're going, you're my wife, I own you," Tim said as he threw her into the wall. He then began to kick her repeatedly in the stomach and she began to scream as each kick became harder. _

Tommy finally started drifting off after being unable to sleep when he heard a scream coming from Nikki's bedroom. She and Emma had been living with him for over a week now and this was the third time he had been awoken by her screams. He jumped out of bed and ran as fast as he could to her room.

"Nikki, Nikki wake up, it's me Tommy," he said as he took hold of her thrashing form.

"No, No, please stop, let go of me," she continued to scream.

"Nikki, it's me, it's Tommy, you're safe now, you're safe," Tommy said as he took her in his arms.

"Tommy?" she said as she began to slowly open her eyes.

"I'm here, it was just a dream, Tim can't hurt you anymore," he said as he continued to hold her.

"Emma, did I wake her, you have to check on her," Nikki said.

Tommy slowly released his hold on her and walked across the hall to Emma's bedroom. He opened the door and was relieved to see that Emma was still sleeping peacefully.

"Is she ok?" Nikki asked once he returned.

"She's fine, she didn't wake up," Tommy answered.

"I'm sorry for waking you again," Nikki said apologetically.

"I wasn't sleeping much anyway," Tommy told her.

"Because of me, you were waiting for this to happen, I'm sorry I tried not to fall asleep I tried but I was just so tired," Nikki said.

"Stop apologizing, it's not your fault," Tommy replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I know I should feel safe here, Tim has no idea where I am but I've spent so much of my life living in fear of him I guess I've forgotten what safe feels like," Nikki told him.

"Maybe I can help with that," Tommy said as he climbed into bed next to her.

"What are you doing?" Nikki questioned.

"Just lie down and close your eyes," he said.

"Tommy, I don't think this is a good idea," Nikki said as she felt Tommy's arms wrapping around her.

"You need to feel safe to sleep, now close your eyes and think about where you are, it's not Tim holding you it's me, and you're safe here in my house, think about Emma and how happy she is when playing outside," Tommy told her.

"But Emma can't find us like this, how would I explain it to her," Nikki reminded him.

"Don't worry, I'll only stay until you fall asleep," Tommy promised.

The next morning, Tommy was down in the kitchen making eggs when Emma came running through the door.

"Hi Emma, are you hungry?" Tommy asked and she nodded.

"Mommy's sleeping," Emma told him.

"That's good, we should let her sleep for a little while longer," Tommy said as he brought her a plate of food.

"Tommy, will you play tea party with me?" Emma asked.

"Sure but only if you eat all of your breakfast," Tommy responded.

Sometime later, Nikki rolled over and slowly opened her eyes. She looked at the clock and was surprised at how late it was.

"I can't believe Tommy didn't wake me up," Nikki said as she ran across the hallway to Emma's room but found it empty.

She walked downstairs to the kitchen but found that it too was empty. She saw the used dishes in the sink and was relieved to find that at least Emma had eaten. She heard laughter from the back yard and decided to see what was going on.

"Mommy's awake," Emma cheered as she ran to give her mother a hug.

"I'm so happy to see you," Nikki said with a smile.

"We came outside so we wouldn't wake you," Tommy said.

"I appreciate it, you look lovely by the way," Nikki said with a laugh seeing Tommy dressed up in a woman's hat with flowers on it.

"If you have tea with Emma you have to dress the part," he told her.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Nikki questioned.

"I called in sick, I didn't want to wake you and I couldn't leave Emma alone until you got up," Tommy answered.

"Oh Tommy, I'm so sorry you have to keep rearranging your life for us," Nikki replied.

"Its fine really, it's the last day of school before summer break and most of my students probably skipped anyway so I decided to skip too," he informed her.

"Mommy, do you want to play with us?" Emma asked.

"Emma, I think you've taken up enough of Tommy's time," Nikki answered.

"It's ok, I love spending time with her," Tommy assured her.

"I should get her dressed, she can't stay in her pajamas all day," Nikki said as she took Emma's hand and led her inside.

Awhile later, Nikki walked downstairs after giving Emma a bath and having taken a shower herself. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She found Tommy in the living room having taken a shower himself watching tv.

"Where's Emma?" he asked.

"In her room, she wanted to draw you a picture," Nikki replied.

"She's a great kid, mostly due to her mother I would think," Tommy remarked.

"Yeah, she certainly didn't get that sweet disposition from Tim," Nikki told him as she sat down next to him.

"You were dreaming about him hurting you," Tommy said.

"Yes, it was right after Emma was born, I was a new mom and I was paying more attention to her needs than his and he got so angry, I tried to run away but he caught me and he was just kicking me over and over and all I could do was scream and then I remember Emma crying in the background, you must think I'm a monster for bringing a baby into that," Nikki said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Nikki, you are not the monster that was Tim, I hate what he did to you and hearing you scream like that forget damn honor, I swear if Tim does ever find you here I'll be more than happy to show him how it feels to be kicked until all he can do is beg for mercy," Tommy replied.

"I hope he never finds us because if he does he'll try and take Emma and I will die before I let that happen," Nikki told him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: **_I have so much planned for this story so I'm going to try and update more because I'm anxious for things to get underway. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Yeah it's important that Tommy gets along with Emma otherwise Nikki would resist her attraction to him. As for Tim, I'm glad that he's such a hateful character. _

**GinaStar: **_I promise Tommy will definitely get his hands on Tim as some point in this story. _

**ThePink1atReefside: **_Thanks for pointing out that I didn't specify a timeframe for this fic. I'm setting it after Dino Thunder cause I wanted to focus mainly on Tommy and Hayley. Oh and I think I stopped taking anon reviews because I kept getting spammers believe it or not instead of genuine reviews. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thank you so much for your review it made my day. If you want to kill Tim go ahead just wait until I'm done with him. Oh and talk to MnR is you want suggestions on how gruesome his death should be. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_Yes, I know everyone can't wait to see what will happen once Tommy and Tim are in the same room. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_We all know Tommy would never use his ranger powers like that. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Thanks, glad you liked it. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_I know Tim's a monster and Tommy's a sweetie._

**Chylea3784: **_Yes, Tommy very much is turning into the White Knight again. _

**PinkAzn: **_From what I heard they were gonna pair up Jason and Kim as a way of explaining why Kim's new boyfriend and Emily weren't around. But alas it didn't turn out that way but it's nice to know that's where the story was headed. _

"Morning sleepyhead," Hayley said as Nikki entered the kitchen.

"Hey Hayley, I can't believe I slept in again," Nikki said as she walked over to get a cup of coffee.

"Tommy said you're still having trouble sleeping so he tries to let you get as much sleep as you can when you finally do fall asleep," Hayley told her.

"Yeah, he's been really great through all of this but I feel so guilty because it means he has to get up early to deal with Emma," Nikki replied.

"You have nothing to feel guilty about, Tommy adores Emma and I think she feels the same way about him," Hayley said.

"Tommy's like a surrogate father to her, she hardly mentions Tim anymore, it's always Tommy this and Tommy that," Nikki informed her.

"That's a good thing in my book, the less Emma asks about her father the easier it'll be for her to totally forget about him," Hayley replied.

"I know I should want Emma to forget about Tim but is it really fair of me to take away the only father she's ever known, Tim would never hurt Emma maybe we could work something out where she's concerned," Nikki said.

"Stop it, don't start second guessing your decision to leave Tim, you said that if you hadn't left when you did Tim might have killed you and then Emma would be left without a mother so he obviously doesn't care whether you get to be a part of Emma's life so you shouldn't care about him either," Hayley told her.

"You're right, if Tim had his way he'd get full custody of Emma and I'd never be allowed to see her again, I'm obviously still half asleep and talking crazy," Nikki said with a laugh.

"Well you better perk up because you're gonna want to be awake when you find out what Tommy has in store for you," Hayley said.

"What are you talking about?" Nikki questioned.

"Tommy called me this morning and asked me to bring you some work out clothes," Hayley said pointing out a nearby bag that was sitting on the table.

"What on earth do I need work out clothes for?" Nikki asked.

"I don't know, he wouldn't give me any details, he just asked me to bring the clothes and I'd love to stay and find out what's going on but I've got to get to work," Hayley answered.

Sometime later, Nikki finished eating breakfast and then went upstairs to change into the clothes that Hayley brought. She then headed out to the backyard where she knew Tommy was playing with Emma.

"Hi Mommy," Emma called.

"Hi sweetie, are you having fun," Nikki said.

"Yeah, I like playing with Tommy," Emma told her.

"You changed clothes," Tommy remarked as Nikki walked toward him.

"I figured since you went to the trouble of asking Hayley to bring them that you would want me to put them on," she replied.

"I did, I just figured I might have to convince you," Tommy told her.

"I thought about waiting until you explained what they were for but I figured changing into them was the least I could do seeing as how you let me sleep in once again," Nikki replied.

"You were tossing and turning all night and it was nearly dawn before you finally drifted off into sleep," Tommy told her.

"You were checking up on me all night?" Nikki questioned.

"Yeah, I wanted to be there in case you had another nightmare and I know that you're afraid you'll wake Emma so I wanted to be there before that happened," he explained.

"Why are you doing this, why are you going so far out of your way to take care of me?" Nikki asked.

"Because you didn't deserve to be treated the way Tim treated you, you deserved a man that would take care of you," Tommy answered.

"Or maybe I deserved to be punished for staying with a man like that," Nikki replied.

"No, you need to stop thinking like that, that's Tim talking, he took away your self worth and made you feel helpless and undeserving and that is exactly why I asked Hayley to bring those clothes because I'm going to help you regain all of that," Tommy said as he stood to his feet.

"How exactly are you going to help me?" Nikki questioned.

"Hey Emma, let's go inside and see if we can find you some cartoons to watch," Tommy said.

Emma looked up at him and nodded her head and Tommy picked her up and carried her towards the house with Nikki trailing behind them.

"Emma, I need you stay here on the couch and watch TV until your Mommy and I are finished, we'll be downstairs if you need us," Tommy told her after getting her settled.

He then walked over to a panel in the wall which revealed a hidden door and opened it. He turned around and motioned for Nikki to follow him as he led her to what had once been the former dino thunder lair.

"Ok, you just opened a secret door in the wall, that's not creepy at all," Nikki said once they were downstairs.

"Hayley and I used to do some what I guess you could call top secret experiments down here but we had a little mishap and the lab was destroyed so now I just use it as a place to work out," Tommy replied.

"You still practice marital arts, I remember seeing pictures of competitions in those albums you showed me," Nikki said.

"Yeah, I do, not as much as when I was younger but I still like to keep up my skills," he told her.

"So that's what these clothes are for, you're going to teach me how to beat the crap out of Tim," Nikki joked.

"I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself if the need arises, here put these on," he said as he handed her a pair of boxing gloves.

"You're going to teach me how to box?" she questioned.

"You need a way to get rid of all the stress and fear that's contributing to your nightmares and boxing is a good way to do that," he answered.

"I don't see how this is going to get rid of my nightmares," Nikki told him.

"Just give it a try, now put your hands up and hit me," Tommy said putting his hands up which were covered by punch mitts.

"Here goes nothing," she said as she prepared to hit him.

"Nikki, don't be afraid, hit me with every ounce of strength you have in you, you won't hurt me I promise," he said as she tried again.

"I suck at this don't I," she said after a few unsuccessful attempts.

"You don't suck, you're just hesitating, try imagining that I'm Tim and then hit me like he used to hit you," he told her.

"Tommy I could never imagine you as Tim," she replied.

"Then just remember all the times that he hit you, remember how much pain you were in, get angry and fight back," Tommy said.

"Ok, this is for all the black eyes that I had to cover with makeup, for all hits and kicks I took to the stomach and this is for forcing himself on me night after night," she yelled as her punches became more forceful.

"See now didn't that feel better, you've been hiding behind your fear when all you really needed was to kick some ass and when I'm finished you're going to be able to do just that," Tommy told her.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what," he said.

"I can't remember the last time I actually felt so empowered and unafraid and I know it's all because of you," she explained.

"When someone hits you, you lose apart of yourself and I just want to help you get that back, now get those hands back up we're not finished," he told her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: **_The continued support for this story has been amazing. I finally feel as though this story is moving in the right direction. I hope you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_The J.Lo movie you are referring to was entitled Enough. I had someone at the beginning of the story ask if that's where the idea for this story came from but it wasn't although I really liked that movie. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thank you so much, the most important thing to me is that the interactions between characters are realistic. As for more of Tommy/Nikki you can count on the Bewitched sequel coming soon. But after the Jason/Kim fic is started. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Thanks, I know you've been waiting patiently for the Jason/Kim story so in the mean time keep reading this one. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_It just made sense that Tommy would teach Nikki how to defend herself. _

**Chylea3784: **_It's nice to see I'm doing what my readers want to see in the story. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks for the tip!_

**Alaskantiger: **_Thanks so much for reviewing!!!_

**PinkAzn: **_I can't remember where I got that info from I was just searching for things about the movie and I came across it somewhere. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Thanks, it's really important to me the way these characters come across. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Thanks, your review is appreciated. _

"It is such a beautiful day," Nikki remarked as she and Tommy sat on a blanket in his backyard watching Emma who was chasing a butterfly.

"Yeah it is," Tommy said smiling at her.

"It was really sweet of you to suggest a picnic, Emma loved it," Nikki told him.

"Thanks but I didn't do it just for her," he replied.

"Well thanks, I enjoyed it too," she admitted.

"Tommy, come play with me," Emma called.

"Duty calls," Tommy said as he got up and ran to Emma sweeping her off the ground and spinning her in a circle.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were the perfect picture of father and daughter," Hayley said as she walked upon the scene.

"He really is great with her," Nikki agreed as Hayley took a seat next to her.

"You guys really do make a beautiful family," Hayley told her.

"Hayley, please don't start with that again, we may look like a family but we're anything but," Nikki replied.

"I thought things were going good between you and Tommy," Hayley remarked.

"Things with me and Tommy are good but it's just friendship so you can take whatever romantic notions you had in that head of yours and forget them," Nikki told her.

"Then why haven't you taken your eyes off him?" Hayley questioned.

"For your information, my eyes happen to be on Emma, I get nervous when he swings her around so much and I just want to make sure he doesn't drop her," Nikki answered.

"Nice try, you know for a fact that Tommy would never drop her, but if you want to keep on denying your feelings for him…," Hayley replied.

"Is there a reason you stopped over?" Nikki asked.

"Not that I really need one but yes I do happen to have a reason for stopping by," Hayley responded.

"What's up," Nikki said.

"I was in a book store yesterday and I ran across some books that I thought Emma might enjoy," Hayley told her.

"That was really thoughtful of you," Nikki said.

"It's the craziest thing, I was just browsing through the children's section and I came across this series of books that reminded me so much of you and Emma and I couldn't resist buying them," Hayley informed her.

"Really, it reminded you of us?" Nikki questioned.

"Wait till you see them, it's almost like they were written for you," Hayley replied.

"Tommy, Emma, come inside and see what Hayley found," Nikki called to them.

Nikki and Hayley headed inside the house to the living room with Tommy and Emma running after them to see what all the fuss was about.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked.

"Hayley brought over some books for Emma," Nikki informed him.

"Let me see, let me see," Emma said running over to the table where the books were laying.

"Oh my gosh, I don't believe it," Nikki said as she read the title of the series.

"The Adventures of Queen Nicole and Princess Emmaline," Tommy said.

"What are the odds of me finding a series that actually has your names in it," Hayley remarked.

"Mommy look, there's a new one," Emma said.

"I see that baby," Nikki said tears welling up in her eyes as she read the title of the newest book _The Adventures of Queen Nicole and Princess Emmaline: The Escape_.

"I take it you've seen these stories before," Hayley said.

"My best friend from college, Jen Gordon, is the author, she wrote the series for us," Nikki informed them.

"The newest one is about your escape from Tim," Tommy assumed.

"Jen probably wrote it after we left," Nikki said.

"Hey Emma, why don't you take your books up to your room and maybe your Mommy will read to you later," Tommy told her.

"Ok, thank you Hayley," Emma said giving her a hug before grabbing her books and running up the stairs.

"Are you ok?" Hayley asked Nikki once the adults were alone.

"I'm sorry for losing it like that but seeing those books again really got to me, they were the one escape from reality that Emma and I had," Nikki responded.

"Jen seems like a really wonderful person to create a series like that for you," Hayley told her.

"She is wonderful, she's the reason I finally had the courage to leave in the first place, it's been so hard not being able to tell her that Emma and I are finally safe but with Tim probably watching every move she makes it's just not possible," Nikki replied.

"Maybe this newest book was her way of telling you that even though you're apart she's still with you," Hayley said.

"I'm sure she wrote it as a way of getting back at Tim, they never really got along and it wouldn't surprise me if she sent him a copy as a way to remind him that I finally managed to escape him," Nikki told her.

"How did the series come about?" Tommy asked.

"When Tim would beat me, sometimes Emma woke up and she'd get really scared and I needed a way to reassure her that everything was fine so to get her back to sleep I invented this story about beautiful Queen Nicole who had a daughter named Princess Emmaline and they lived in this magical castle where it was just the two of them and nothing bad ever happened and they would go off on these great adventures together in search of a handsome prince who would marry the Queen and then the three of them cold live happily ever after," Nikki explained.

"And you told Jen about this?" Hayley questioned.

"No, she overheard me tucking Emma into bed one night and she asked if she could turn it into a series, she's a really talented children's author and I thought it would be nice for Emma to see the stories brought to life like that, she even asked me to illustrate them, of course Tim wouldn't allow that, after we married I wasn't allowed to be an artist any more, nothing could interfere with my duties as his wife," Nikki told them.

"What a jerk, he was really that insecure that he couldn't even handle you illustrating a simple children's book especially one that was for your daughter," Tommy said.

"Tim didn't want his wife to work, it didn't matter that drawing wasn't work to me so I did the illustrations in secret, I was allowed to have lunch with Jen once a week and we used that time for me to work on the illustrations but I couldn't attach my name to them so it just says story and illustrations by Jen Gordon," Nikki informed him.

"Didn't Tim ever suspect that the illustrations might be done by you?" Hayley inquired.

"Of course he did, he'd seen enough of my work to recognize it and every time a new book would come out I was punished for defying him but I didn't care, it was worth taking a beating to see the joy on Emma's face every time she saw herself reflected in Princess Emmaline," Nikki answered.

"You know if I didn't think it would lead Tim back to you and Emma I'd go to Denver myself and beat the shit out of him for hurting you," Tommy said with anger in his voice.

"With all the lessons you've been giving me I think I'd be able to do that myself now," Nikki told him.

"Nikki, I never would have bought those books if I'd known it'd bring up such horrible memories for you," Hayley finally said.

"No Hayley bringing those books was the best thing you could have done for Emma and for me because Queen Nicole and Princess Emmaline exist somewhere that a monster like Tim doesn't exist and reading those stories to my daughter will help her accept that it's ok for her and mommy to live without a daddy," Nikki said.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: **_Thanks to M.L. Shards for review #100!!!! I'm so excited that so many of you are reading and reviewing this story. It is really appreciated!!!_

**Chylea3784: **_Thanks, I'm flattered you thought so highly of that last chapter. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thanks a lot, I was really worried about that chapter being centered around the book so I'm glad it was so well received. _

**HarryPassionFan: **_Somehow, some way Nikki will be reunited with her friend Jen at some point in the story. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Yeah, there are parts of the story that are pretty obvious like the eventual court battle over Emma but I've got plenty of other twists up my sleeve so keep reading. _

**Alaskantiger: **_Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long for this next chapter. _

**welleg: **_Thanks, I'm glad that last chapter was so well liked. _

**GinaStar: **_I'm not sure about that but you haven't seen the last of Jen in this story. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_I wish I could take credit for it but I borrowed the book idea from a tv show._

**GracefulCrane: **_Thanks so much, I hope you like this next one as well. _

"Hey Nikki, I was thinking about taking Emma for a walk in the woods and I was wondering if you'd like to come with us," Tommy said entering the living room where Nikki was sitting on the couch.

"Um, no you go ahead without me," Nikki said quietly as she shielded her face from him.

"You're crying, what's wrong," he said taking a seat next to her.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," she told him.

"You don't sound fine, haven't you been here long enough to know that you can talk to me about anything," he replied.

"It's Emma's fourth birthday tomorrow, I thought she might forget but she just asked me about a party and I had to explain to her that there wouldn't be a party this year," Nikki informed him.

"We can't let Emma's birthday just go by without celebrating, I'll call Hayley and I'm sure we can come up with something," Tommy said.

"Tommy you don't have to do that, Emma understands that things have to be different this year," Nikki replied.

"How would you be celebrating if you were back in Denver?" he asked.

"Well, Tim would have spared no expense, he'd rent out a petting zoo or a carnival, anything to impress the other parents, of course he'd act like the perfect father who only wanted to make his daughter happy but really it'd all be a show for whoever he needed to impress but it would make Emma happy so I'd smile and pretend to be the happy wife," she answered.

"I'm not sure I can get a whole petting zoo but I'll do my best to make it something special for Emma, that is if you'll let me," Tommy told her.

"Ok, I know it's the last minute but I'm sure you could get a cake or something," Nikki said.

"Then it's settled, why don't you make a list of presents that Emma would want and I'll call Hayley and she can go and get them and I'll handle the arrangements for the party," Tommy said.

"Seriously Tommy, don't go overboard, it's just a simple celebration with you, me, Emma and Hayley," Nikki told him.

"I'm gonna go call Hayley, you just make that list," Tommy said leaving her alone in the room.

"I'm finished with the list," Nikki announced as she walked into the kitchen where Tommy was hanging up the phone.

"Great, I'll go drop this off with Hayley and take care of some other details," he said taking the list from her.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Emma's birthday sooner, I should have known that you'd want to do something for her, I just feel bad that we're taking up so much of your life," Nikki told him.

"You have nothing to feel bad about, I've really enjoyed having the two of you here, you've brought more to my life than you know," Tommy replied.

"You better get that to Hayley, I need to check on Emma," Nikki said.

"Ok, I'll be back in a few hours," Tommy said watching as she left the room.

Tommy left the house and headed over to Hayley's apartment where she was waiting for him.

"You really think we can pull this off?" Hayley questioned once he arrived.

"Yes, I made all the arrangements and all you have to do is get the presents that Nikki wants to give to Emma," he answered.

"I can't wait to see the look on Nikki's face when she sees what you've done," Hayley told him.

"Me either, it was really hard not to let on that I already knew about Emma's birthday, I just really want to make the day special for both of them," Tommy replied.

"If everything works out the way you planned, I know it'll be a day that Nikki and Emma never forget," Hayley said.

"I hope so Hayley, I really hope so," he said.

The next morning, Nikki woke up and walked into Emma's room. She was surprised to see that Emma was sitting at her small table eating cereal.

"Good morning, Mommy," Emma said happily.

"Good morning my beautiful birthday girl," Nikki said bending down to give Emma a kiss.

"Tommy said I have to stay in my room until my party," Emma told her.

"He did, did he, well you keep eating and Mommy will be right back," Nikki said leaving the room.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Tommy asked. He was coming up the stairs as Nikki was going down.

"To the kitchen to get something to eat and what's this about Emma not being able to leave her room," Nikki responded.

"Didn't you see the food I left on your dresser, you're not allowed to come down either," Tommy told her.

"Ok, I get that you want to surprise Emma with whatever decorations you're putting in the house but there's no reason I can't help you," Nikki said.

"You can help by staying up here and keeping Emma preoccupied while Hayley and I finish getting things ready," Tommy replied.

"Why do I get the feeling you ignored what I said about a simple celebration?" Nikki questioned.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Tommy said.

Nikki and Emma spent all morning in Emma's room and Nikki did her best to keep her daughter's mind off whatever surprise Tommy had planned for her. It was nearing lunchtime and Nikki was beginning to wonder what was taking so long when Tommy finally came into the room.

"Is it time for my party yet?" Emma asked.

"Almost, I just need to show something to your Mommy first," Tommy answered motioning for Nikki to follow him out the door.

Tommy led Nikki downstairs and she was surprised to find that not a single decoration had been put in the living room or the kitchen. Tommy then opened the back door and led her outside to the backyard.

"Oh Tommy, what did you do?" Nikki questioned as her eyes filled with tears.

"I hope that means you like it," he said.

"It looks just like Queen Nicole and Princess Emmaline's castle garden from the story, how on earth did you do this in one day," Nikki responded.

"Actually, I got the idea after Hayley found those books, you see Emma had told me her birthday awhile ago and when I realized it was coming up I decided that I wanted to do something special for her," Tommy replied.

"This is wonderful, Emma will be so happy when she sees it," Nikki said.

"Is it safe for me to come out?" Hayley asked dressed in a fairy costume.

"Hayley, who are you supposed to be?" Nikki asked.

"I'm Princess Emmaline's fairy godmother of course, now I know in the story Jen's the fairy but I hope Emma won't mind," Hayley said.

"Everything's all set all we have to do is get changed, we got Emma a princess costume and you of course will be the queen and I by default will be the prince," Tommy said.

"I can't believe you got us costumes on top of everything else," Nikki said.

"Well we figured since Emma can't spend her birthday with all of her friends, we'd try and make this party extra special," Hayley told her.

Soon, everyone was changed into their costumes and they led Emma into the backyard.

"Happy Birthday Princess Emmaline, welcome to your garden," Tommy said as he opened the door for her.

"Oh wow, Mommy it's just like the story!" Emma cheered.

"Yeah it is, thanks to Tommy," Nikki told her.

"Thank you Tommy, this is the best birthday ever," Emma said running over to give him a hug.

"Your welcome Princess Emmaline but there's just one more surprise left," Tommy said leaving her with Nikki.

"What's going on now?" Nikki questioned Hayley.

"It's just something every princess should have at least for her birthday," Hayley said with a smile as Tommy reappeared leading a white pony.

"Can I keep him?" Emma said running over to pet the pony.

"Only for the party," Tommy said picking her up and putting her on the pony's back.

"Hold on tight, Emma," Nikki said as Tommy began leading the horse around the yard.

"I'll bet you never expected this," Hayley remarked as she and Nikki watched Emma riding the pony.

"No I didn't, she is never going to forget this day, I can't believe Tommy went to all this trouble," Nikki responded.

"He loves that little girl like she was his own," Hayley told her.

"Tommy deserves to have a little girl of his own some day, he's the kind of man that I wanted Tim to be but he wasn't, all Tim ever cared about was looking like the perfect family but only if the right people were watching," Nikki said.

"That's all over now, you never have to worry about Tim again, I know you don't want to hear this but I still think you and Tommy could have something," Hayley replied.

"Tommy is a wonderful man but he deserves to be happy with someone that he can have a future with and that's not me, I can't promise him that," Nikki told her.

Later that night, Nikki and Tommy sat on the couch in the living room after tucking Emma into bed.

"Thank you for Emma's party, it was really special," she told him.

"I'm just glad I could do something to make her birthday nice," he replied.

"It was ten times better than anything Tim would have done," she said.

"So a little birdie told me that your birthday is the day after Emma's," Tommy told her.

"Yeah it is, the year she was born I thought she was the best birthday present I ever received," Nikki responded.

"Well don't worry, I'm not going throw you a huge surprise party because I know you probably don't want to make a big deal about it but I got you a little something anyway," Tommy told her.

"You didn't have to do that," she said.

"I know but I did it anyway," he said reaching for her hand and pulling her up from the couch.

He opened the secret panel in the wall and once again led her down to his former dino lair.

"You mentioned that Tim didn't allow you much time for your art so I thought maybe it's time you got back into it," he told her leading her over to where he had set up an easel and paints.

"Thank you but I really can't accept this," she said.

"I want you to have it and I won't take it back so someone has to use it," he told her.

"Well thank you, it's the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time," she said.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: **_The site is acting kinda crazy right now but I'm hoping my readers will get the alert that this story has been updated. _

**Chylea3784: **_Thank you, it's important to me that I'm writing Tommy in character. _

**welleg: **_Thanks, I'm trying to show how much Tommy cares for Nikki and Emma. _

**GinaStar: **_It was perfect? Well, thanks a lot!_

**general-joseph-dickson: **_I have surprise for my readers! But yeah I guess it wouldn't hurt to say that Tim is in for a surprise it just won't be in the form of a ranger. _

**CoolDiva: **_I see I have one AMC fan among the bunch that was the inspiration for this fic so if you are familiar with what happened you'll see where this is going. _

**Alaskantiger: **_I'm glad you're so eager to see what happens next. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_I heart Tommy too but I guess you could tell that from reading this fic. _

Nikki was sitting in the backyard of Tommy's home working at her easel. She was finishing a drawing she had started of Tommy and Emma.

"It's beautiful," Hayley remarked as she stood behind Nikki watching her.

"It'll look much better once I actually start to paint it," Nikki said.

"I'm just glad to see you working on your art again," Hayley said..

"Yeah I was half afraid I didn't have it in me anymore but all of a sudden I felt inspired again," Nikki told her.

"And I've got a pretty good idea of what led to that inspiration or should I say who," Hayley responded.

"Yes, I suppose Tommy had a little something to do with it, he did buy me the art supplies," Nikki said as she continued working.

"That's not what I meant and you know it, I mean just look at your drawing," Hayley said.

"Ok, so I happen to be drawing picture of him but Emma's there too," Nikki told her.

"Yes and anyone who looks at that picture can see how much love there is in it, you're not just drawing a picture of your daughter with the man who cares about her, you're drawing a picture of two people that you love, just admit it, you're falling for him," Hayley said.

"Alright fine, so I maybe sorta might have feelings for him but that's all they're just feelings," Nikki told her.

"Well at least you're admitting it," Hayley said.

"Yes, I am but that's as far as it goes, I'm not going to act on them," Nikki replied.

"You keep telling yourself that," Hayley said as she left Nikki alone to finish her work.

Hayley went back inside the house where she found Tommy in the kitchen staring out the window watching Nikki.

"Where's Emma?" Hayley asked alerting him to her presence.

"I put her down for her nap," he answered.

"You're getting really good at all this Dad stuff," Hayley commented.

"It's easy with Emma, I just don't get how such a sweet child could have such a bastard for a father, he doesn't deserve her and I swear Hayley I will do everything in my power to keep him from ever seeing her or Nikki ever again," Tommy replied.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Hayley questioned.

"Yeah I am, I've tried to fight my feelings for her because I know she could decide at any minute to take Emma and leave but I just wish I could find a way to erase all the horrible things that Tim did to her," Tommy answered.

"I think you're doing a pretty good job of that already," Hayley told him.

"Maybe but Nikki's not ready for a relationship with me or any man for that matter," Tommy replied.

"You're not just any man and I think you should tell her how you feel, she might be more ready than you think," Hayley said.

"And she told you this?" Tommy asked.

"Well not in so many words but she does have feelings for you," Hayley replied.

"Did she ask you to tell me this?" Tommy questioned.

"No, she'd probably kill me if she knew I said anything," Hayley answered.

"Then maybe we should just stop this conversation," Tommy said.

Meanwhile, Tim was in Denver at his campaign headquarters where he was preparing to announce his plans to run for congress.

"Mr. Durham, there's a Pat Williams here to see you," one of the volunteers said coming into this office.

"Send him in and make sure we're not disturbed," Tim told her.

"Right away Mr. Durham, just call if you need anything," she said as she left.

"You better be here to tell me you've found that bitch who stole my daughter," Tim said when the investigator entered the room.

"Unfortunately no, I've spent the last couple of months talking to everyone I could think of her old college friends, professors, and your wife and daughter seem to have just disappeared," Pat told him.

"So are you saying I now have no choice but to report them as missing?" Tim questioned.

"Actually no, I've got one more lead that I wanted to tell you about, it's a long shot but her mother told me about a friend she had in high school, Hayley Viktor, now as far as Charlotte Hunter knows Nikki hasn't contacted Hayley in years but she did tell me that they came across a newspaper clipping about her a few years ago and it turns out she's a rather successful business owner," he informed him.

"And Charlotte thinks Nikki might have run to her for help?" Tim asked.

"Like I said it's a long shot, Hayley and Nikki haven't spoken since they were teens but Charlotte seemed to think that Hayley wouldn't turn Nikki away if she showed up," Pat answered.

"Where is this Hayley?" Tim inquired.

"A small coastal town in California, it's called Reefside, Hayley owns a cybercafé there," Pat told him.

"Then go, see if my wife's been in contact with her old friend but try not make Hayley suspicious in case Nikki is there, I don't want her to know I'm still looking," Tim replied.

A few days later, Pat Williams arrived in Reefside and headed straight for Hayley's Cyberspace.

"Hello sir, may I help you?" a young teen asked.

"Is the owner around?" Pat asked.

"No, Hayley's out for the day but you can leave your number if you want and I'll tell her you were looking for her," he replied.

"No, no, I don't want her to know I'm here, she's up for a business award and I don't want to ruin the surprise but I think one of my co-workers might have been in contact with her already, have you ever seen this woman around here," Williams said as he showed the boy a picture of Nikki.

"Sorry no, but then again I haven't been working here long, you could try asking Stacey she's worked here all summer and she knows just about everyone in town," the boy told him.

"Thanks, I will," Pat said.

"Sorry, I've never seen that woman around here before," Stacey told him.

"What about this little girl ever seen her?" he asked showing a picture of Emma.

"No, this place is mostly for teenagers we don't get many kids," she answered.

"What about your boss does she have any kids?" he questioned.

"Hayley, no she doesn't have kids but I think she has a niece, she was wrapping a bunch of presents a few weeks ago and when I asked she said it was her niece's birthday, I assumed she was in a hurry to get them in the mail because she left soon after," Stacey replied.

"So this niece doesn't live here?" Pat asked.

"No, I don't think Hayley has any family here in Reefside," Stacy told him.

"Thanks a lot for your help and remember don't tell your boss I was in here, you wouldn't want to ruin the surprise in case she wins the award," Pat said.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: **_Right now this is probably one of my favorite stories to write and that has a lot to do with those of you who continue to read and review so thanks!_

**CoolDiva: **_If you liked that last chapter, then I suspect you'll like this one as well. _

**anon: **_Thanks, it's my favorite to write so I'm glad there's someone out there who feels the same way. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks as always, I'm on a reunion kick this week so you might like this next chapter. _

**Alaskantiger: **_Thanks, I try and update as often as I can. _

**welleg: **_Tommy and Nikki are definitely headed in the right direction where their feelings are concerned. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_Tim's not too worried about anyone finding out, he only wants to make Nikki pay for taking Emma away from him. _

**Chylea3784: **_Yeah, Tim's investigator is slowly piecing everything together. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Thanks so much, I think you'll like this chapter because of a certain pairing. _

"Hayley, what are you doing here?" Nikki questioned as she sat at the kitchen table one morning.

"Tommy called and asked if I'd watch Emma," Hayley answered.

"Why would he call you to watch Emma?" Nikki inquired.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask him for yourself," Hayley responded.

"I would but he's in the shower, he didn't give you any reason at all," Nikki said.

"Nope, he just called and asked if I'd watch Emma, I just assumed the two of you might have plans or something," Hayley replied.

"No Hayley, Tommy and I don't have any plans, maybe he's going out and he wants you to entertain Emma while I do some more painting," Nikki said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Hayley told her.

"I guess so," Nikki mused.

"Are you ok, you look kind of tired," Hayley said after a few minutes.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Nikki told her.

"Oh no, not more nightmares about Tim," Hayley said.

"No, it wasn't about Tim and it wasn't a nightmare, it was just this silly dream I had about me and Tommy," Nikki said almost whispering the last part.

"Did you just say you had a dream about you and Tommy?" Hayley questioned.

"Yes and it was just a little intense and I couldn't get back to sleep after but it's really not that big of a deal I shouldn't have even brought it up," Nikki answered.

"What kind of dream about Tommy would have kept you up all night," Hayley wondered aloud.

"Hayley, I said it wasn't that big of a deal, let's just drop it," Nikki said getting up to get more coffee.

"Oh my gosh, you had a sex dream about Tommy," Hayley said.

"Ok fine, it was a sex dream but it means nothing and we're going to leave it at that," Nikki told her.

"I think it's perfectly normal that you would start to dream about him like that, I mean you've been living with him for the past three months and you already admitted that you have feelings for him, so it's only natural that your dreams would start to reflect that," Hayley replied.

"Hayley, there is nothing normal about this situation, it was just a stupid dream," Nikki said.

"Well Tommy did call me over to watch Emma and I could you know take her to the park or something and give you two some alone..," Hayley started saying.

"Hayley if you finish that sentence I swear I'll," Nikki said but Tommy interrupted.

"Oh good Hayley you're here," Tommy said coming into the room.

"Good morning Tommy, how'd you sleep," Hayley said.

"I slept just fine thanks for asking," Tommy answered.

"So no interesting dreams or anything," Hayley said.

"Hayley, I don't believe you!" Nikki yelled.

"Am I missing something here?" Tommy questioned.

"Yes," said Hayley.

"No," Nikki said at the same time which left Tommy staring at both of them.

"You two are acting really strange, is there something you're not telling me," Tommy said.

"Hayley said you called her to watch Emma," Nikki said before Hayley could say anything else.

"Yeah I did, I forgot that I promised some friends I'd go to a party they were planning in Angel Grove and I thought since you haven't been out of the house since you got here that you might like to come with me," Tommy told her.

"Sounds like a great idea to me, I'd be happy to stay here with Emma until you got back," Hayley said.

"Aren't you two forgetting something here, I'm in hiding remember I can't just go off on a trip to Angel Grove, I mean what if Tim has finally reported me as missing and my picture is out there somewhere," Nikki replied.

"It's not, I checked the missing person's reports myself, it's perfectly safe for you to go with Tommy," Hayley told her.

"No, it's nice of you to think of me but there's no way I can leave this house," Nikki decided.

"Maybe you can't but Robin can," Tommy said.

"Tommy also asked me to bring you this," Hayley said tossing Nikki a blonde wig.

"I knew you might have some reservations about going out so I thought it might help if you could pretend to be someone else that way you don't have to worry about anyone finding out the truth," Tommy said.

"I can't, I can't leave Emma," Nikki responded.

"Emma will be fine, we'll stay here in the house and we won't go anywhere I promise," Hayley told her.

"Angel Grove is only a few hours away and we'll come home as soon as the party's over I promise but don't you think it's time you let your guard down and tried to have a little fun, you remember fun don't you," Tommy said.

"I guess leaving for a few hours couldn't hurt and it would be fun meeting your friends," Nikki said.

"Does that mean you'll go?" Tommy asked.

"I'll go get dressed," Nikki said grabbing the wig and heading upstairs.

An hour later, Nikki was dressed and ready to accompany Tommy to Angel Grove.

"Mommy, you look funny," Emma said when she saw her mother's brown hair covered by the blonde wig.

"That's because your Mommy's playing a game just like the one we play when you pretend to be my niece," Hayley informed her.

"Emma, be a good girl for Hayley ok," Nikki said giving her daughter a big hug.

"Ok, Mommy," Emma said.

"I'll bet you and Hayley have so much fun you won't even miss us," Tommy said as he too hugged Emma.

"We'll be fine, stop worrying," Hayley said.

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this," Nikki remarked as she and Tommy arrived in Angel Grove a few hours later.

"Talk you into what, having a little fun for a change," Tommy replied.

"I have fun, I'm painting again that's fun for me, and what about Emma's birthday party where we all dressed up, that was fun," Nikki said.

"I have fun with Emma too but it's nice to have some fun with adults too and I think my friends are really going to like you," Tommy told her.

"You mean they're really going to like Robin," Nikki reminded him.

"You may be using a fake name but it's still going to be you they're meeting," Tommy replied.

"What exactly are you planning on telling them about me?" Nikki questioned.

"We'll just say you're an old college friend," Tommy answered as he stopped the car in front of a house.

"So what kind of party is this we're going to?" Nikki asked as they walked up to the front door.

"It just a little get together my friends and I have every couple of months so that we don't lose touch though I wasn't the greatest at keeping in touch with them when I first moved to Reefside," Tommy explained as he rang the doorbell.

"Well seeing how secluded your house is that really doesn't surprise me," Nikki replied.

"There was a reason for that and maybe I'll tell you someday," Tommy said as the door was finally opened.

"I don't believe it, Tommy Oliver is actually on time for once," a man with short brown hair said.

"It's nice to see you too bro, I got an early start today," Tommy said as he gave his friend a hug.

"Who do we have here?" he asked.

"Jason Scott I'd like to introduce you to an old college friend of mine, this is Robin," Tommy said.

"It's nice to meet you Jason, I hope it's alright that I'm crashing the party," Nikki said as she shook Jason's hand.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Jason said as he let them inside.

"Jason who was at the door?" a woman asked from another room.

"It's Tommy and he brought a date," Jason called back.

"Tommy, we haven't heard from you in months," the woman said as she entered the room.

"I know Kim, I've just been really busy lately," Tommy said as he gave her a hug.

"Robin, this is my wife Kimberly," Jason told Nikki.

"Hello Kimberly, nice to meet you," Nikki said.

"You too, so how long have you and Tommy been dating?" Kim asked.

"We're not, we're just friends," Nikki answered.

"Where's everyone else?" Tommy asked.

"Zack and Aisha are the only ones here besides you two," Kim told him as she led them to the living room.

"Hey Tommy, been awhile," Zack said.

"Yeah it has, Zack, Aisha, this is my friend Robin," Tommy told them.

"Nice to meet you both, she's beautiful," Nikki said referring to the little girl that Aisha held in her arms.

"This is our daughter Justine, she just turned one," Aisha told her.

"Uncle Tommy," a little boy said as he came running into the room.

"Hey Dylan, you get bigger every time I see you," Tommy said as he picked up Jason and Kimberly's three year old son.

"What was that you said about this being an adult party," Nikki said with a laugh as the doorbell rang again.

"Why don't you two have a seat, I'll get that," Kim said.

Moments later, Kim was followed in by three couples and two of them had children with them as well.

"See Rocky, I told you," a woman with blonde hair said as she held an infant in her arms.

"Ok, so everyone else brought their kids too, I just thought it might be nice if we could go out just the two of us," Rocky replied.

"You'll have to excuse them Robin they're new to the whole parenting thing," Kim explained.

"Hi I'm Katherine and this is my husband Rocky and our daughter Vanessa," Kat said.

"Robin, this is Adam and Tanya and two year old Noah," Tommy told her.

"Do you have any kids Robin?" Kim asked.

"Um, no not yet anyway," Nikki answered.

"Don't worry we don't either, I'm Trini and this is my husband Billy," an Asian woman said introducing herself.

"You must be really overwhelmed by all this," Kat commented.

"Maybe just a little, Tommy invited me at the last minute," Nikki replied.

"Where do you two know each other from again?" Tanya questioned.

"We met in college, Robin's a friend of Hayley's too and she's been visiting us in Reefside," Tommy answered.

"And you came all this way to meet us?" Rocky asked.

"Are you sure you two are just friends," Kim remarked.

"Sorry about this, you see my friends are all married and now they've made it their mission in life interfere in my love life," Tommy said.

"It's ok, I have a meddling friend of my own so I understand," Nikki said thinking about Hayley.

"We don't mean to put you on the spot Robin, it's just that Tommy never brings anyone to these reunions," Jason explained.

"Really, well I'm honored then that he would bring me," Nikki said.

"Why don't we leave Robin alone and get to the food, I'm hungry," Rocky said.

"He's always hungry," Kat said rolling her eyes.

Sometime later, Tommy and Nikki sat in Jason and Kimberly's backyard away from the others and watched as his friends played with their kids.

"You miss Emma don't you," Tommy said.

"Yeah, it would have been nice for her to have some kids to play with again but bringing her here would have brought up too many questions," Nikki replied.

"Did you at least have a little fun?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I did your friends are great," Nikki told him.

"They think you're really great too," he said.

"I wish I could tell them the truth about how great you've been letting me and Emma live you and all the wonderful things you've done for us, not many men would put their lives on hold the way you have," Nikki said.

"I don't feel like my life is on hold in many ways I feel like it's just begun, I can't really imagine my life without you and Emma and I'm not sure I would really want to," Tommy told her.

Nikki desperately wanted to tell Tommy that she couldn't imagine life without him either but her mouth just wouldn't form the words. She and Tommy just looked at each other in silence and Tommy slowly bent his head to kiss her.

"We should get home to Emma," Nikki said breaking the moment and stopping Tommy from kissing her.

"Uh sure, if that's what you want," Tommy said.

They drove back to Reefside in silence neither of them wanting to bring up the kiss that almost happened.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note: **_This was a hard chapter to write for me, mostly because I've been anticipating it for awhile now so please be kind in your reviews because I really did try to give it my best. _

**CoolDiva: **_I added Trini in just for you! Thanks so much I want so much for the relationship between Tommy and Nikki to be realistic I just hope I don't ruin that with this chapter. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Well he didn't actually kiss her but almost. Thanks, I knew you'd love seeing Jason and Kim together in that last chapter. _

**Chylea3784: **_Oh they're not so far away. _

**welleg: **_I think you'll be happy with this chapter then. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks!_

**general-joseph-dickson**_: Thanks!_

**moonlite-n-roses: **_Nikki might have stopped him that time but Tommy doesn't give up so easily. _

**t-horse: **_I love getting new reviewers!!_

**gfdgfdgd: **_Interesting choice of name but thanks for reviewing._

Tommy pulled on the tiny T-Rex statue in his living room and waited for the panel in the wall to open up. He walked down the stairs and found Nikki sitting at her easel working on another painting.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your work," Tommy spoke causing Nikki to jump slightly at the sound of his voice.

"Is it Emma, is everything ok?" Nikki asked with a look of concern.

"No, Emma's fine," he answered trying to hold back the frustration he felt.

It had been like this for weeks since they had returned from their trip to Angel Grove. Nikki rarely spoke to him unless it had something to do with Emma and she spent most of her time working on her paintings as a way to avoid having contact with him. It was like they were back to square one just two strangers sharing a house.

"Tommy, what did you come down here to tell me," she spoke bringing him back to reality.

"Oh just that Hayley called and said she had a big surprise for Emma, she should be here soon," Tommy told her.

"Ok, thanks for letting me know, I'll be up in a second," Nikki replied turning back to her artwork.

"You can't keep doing this you know," Tommy finally said.

"Doing what?" she questioned.

"Avoiding me, ever since I almost kissed you back in Angel Grove you've been walking around here like you're afraid to be alone with me, I'm not going to jump you if that's what you're worried about," Tommy replied.

"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting, I know it's childish, it's just that kissing you would have complicated things more than I was ready for," Nikki told him.

"So are you saying that if you were ready you would have kissed me back?" Tommy inquired.

"Maybe, do we really have to get into this now, Hayley's on her way and I would really like to get cleaned up before she gets here," Nikki answered.

"Ok, I'll just keep Emma preoccupied until you're done," he said with a smile as he turned around and headed back upstairs.

"Is anyone home?" Hayley called out as she walked into the house.

"We're in the kitchen," Tommy called back.

Hayley walked into the kitchen holding a bag and Tommy was surprised to see that she had a little girl with her.

"Hi guys, Tommy, Emma, this is Claire, she's four just like you," Hayley said introducing them.

"Hi," the two girls said at the same time.

"It's nice to meet you Claire," Tommy told her.

"Claire's mom is in town doing a research project with Anton and Claire was getting pretty bored with no one to play with so I told her that my niece Emma was in town and I thought it would be great if we had a slumber party," Hayley informed him.

"Hi Hayley who's your friend," Nikki said coming into the kitchen.

"Mommy, this is Claire we're going to have a slumber party," Emma said excitedly.

"You are, are you, Emma why don't you take Claire upstairs and show her your room," Nikki told her.

"Go ahead, I'll be right up," Hayley told Claire.

"A slumber party, you've got to be kidding me, do you know how risky it was bringing that little girl here," Nikki said.

"I just thought it might be nice if Emma had someone her own age to play with and don't worry Claire and her mother will be leaving tomorrow so you don't have to worry about her mother seeing you and realizing who you are," Hayley said.

"But Hayley, we're not prepared for this, and what about Tommy, its bad enough he has one little girl in the house and now there's two," Nikki told her.

"You and Tommy don't have to worry about a thing, I brought movies, food and games, I'll take total responsibility for the girls I'll stay up with in Emma's room and you'll never even know we're here," Hayley replied.

"I think it's a great idea, and if Hayley's willing to do all the work it's even better," Tommy said.

"Then it's settled, I'm going to take this stuff upstairs, it'll be fine don't worry," Hayley said.

"Well if Emma's taken care of I guess I'll go back to my work," Nikki said.

"Oh no, you don't, you're coming with me," Tommy said taking her hand and leading her outside to the backyard.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Come and see," he said.

Nikki followed Tommy into the backyard where there was a picnic set up on the grass.

"I set up this picnic for me, you and Emma, before I knew that Hayley was coming, we had so much fun the last time we did it and I was hoping it'd be a way to break the ice between us again," Tommy told her.

"Tommy, this is very sweet but I really should get back to my painting before I lose the inspiration," she said.

"You're not really going to make me sit out here all alone are you?" he asked.

"You're trying to guilt me into this," she responded.

"Is it working?" he asked.

"Well I do have to eat," she said taking a seat on the blanket.

"Thank you for not making me eat alone," he said sitting beside her.

"Tommy, I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting, it's just that we've known each other for like what four months now and I never expected to have these kinds of feelings and I guess it just scared me," Nikki told him.

"After what you've been through, I think you're more than entitled to be scared but I'm not Tim, I would never do anything to hurt you," Tommy replied.

"I know you wouldn't but Tim took so much from me and I can't just forget about that," she explained.

"Yeah and you've gained a lot back," he said.

"Because of you," she told him.

"You are so beautiful, sometimes I don't think you realize that, but you are the most beautiful person inside and out, it's no wonder I started falling in love with you," he replied.

"Oh Tommy, I wish I felt beautiful but all I feel is ugly inside because I stayed with such an evil man and I brought a daughter into that, how could you love someone who would do that," she said as she started to cry.

"No, you are not the ugly one here, Tim is, you gave him the most precious gift any woman could give a man and he treated you like you were nothing, I swear I will kill that guy if he ever comes near you or Emma again," Tommy told her as he wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting your shirt all wet," she said wiping her eyes.

"It's ok, I'll hold you for as long as you need me to," he said looking into her eyes.

Nikki met his gaze and this time she didn't do anything to spoil the moment. Words seemed beside the point now and when he leaned in to kiss her she didn't pull away. She felt herself lay back on the blanket and felt Tommy come with her as they continued to kiss. She held her arm between them, her hand on his chest, and they both knew that she was ready to push him away—she was always ready to push someone away.

"We should stop this before it goes too far, I don't want to push you into something you're not ready for," Tommy said finally forcing himself to pull away from her.

"I want to be ready, I need to be ready," she admitted.

"Nikki, we don't have to rush things, I want to be with you when you decide the time is right," he told her.

"This is the first time in years that I've had the power to make a decision like this and I don't want to run from my feelings for you anymore," she said.

They got up from the blanket and walked in silence back inside the house and then upstairs to Tommy's bedroom. Once inside, he closed the door and then put his arms around her. They held each other for a long time and then Nikki tilted her head back and let him kiss her mouth. He was hungry, insistent, but she was even more so.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked searching her eyes for the answer.

They undressed each other. Her heart was going so fast, she thought she might faint. Every inch of her skin was tingling as he took off her shirt and then unzipped her pants. She thought of Tim and how he had never been so gentle. He hadn't been kind or patient; he had just taken what he wanted without a second thought to what she wanted.

"I want you, Nikki," Tommy said embracing her. And she knew then, by the way he legs went weak, by the way she leaned back to kiss him, that she wanted him too. They led each other over to the bed, and they lay down. He rolled her on her back, holding her hands in his, climbing on top and looking straight into her eyes. His expression was full of fire, and as their eyes met, something in her chest began to let go.

"Nikki, you're safe now, forget everything else, you're starting over now," he said.

"Forget, I can't," she said.

"Anyone who ever hurt you, any loss Nikki, forget it, I'll never hurt you," he promised.

He held her and rocked her, even when she cried, letting go of everything old and cold and frozen, and even when she trembled and cried again, afterwards, because she hadn't realized that she could still feel and still love. They fell asleep together, holding each other tight. Nikki woke up some time later and tired to get out of bed without waking him.

"Hi," he said smiling as he looked up at her.

"Hi yourself, this was wonderful, better than I could have imagined," she told him.

"I agree, so why are you leaving," he responded.

"I should go to my room now, I don't want Emma to come looking for me and not be able to find me," she said when his eyes opened.

"Hayley will take care of her, stay with me," he said.

Nikki gave in and she laid back down into Tommy's waiting arms. She felt her eyes flicker as sleep overtook her again and she fell asleep knowing she was with Tommy and knowing that Emma was safe.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: **_Thanks again to those of you who read and reviewed that last chapter, I really needed those. I kinda went on strike against the site for awhile because I didn't want to update while it was still messing up. Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long._

**CoolDiva: **_You have to hose me off first..LOL_

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Yeah, I thought so too. _

**welleg: **_Yeah, Nikki just couldn't hold back her feelings anymore._

**Chylea3784: **_Thank you so much, I tried my best to make sure it came out that way. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_I'm afraid you're right, the bad stuff is coming up very soon._

**GracefulCrane: **_Thanks, I'm glad I could make your day with that last chapter. _

**t-horse: **_Thanks for the compliment!!_

**Lone Nightblade: **_Glad you like it and that you caught it. Missed you around here. _

**PinkAzn: **_Don't worry about I know what it's like to get busy with school. _

"Anyone down here, it's Hayley and I'm coming down so if anything's going on you might want to stop now," Hayley said as she walked down into the former dino lair.

"Relax Hayley, it's just me," Tommy said with a slight laugh seeing his best friend with her hands over her eyes.

"Just checking, we wouldn't want another incident like the last time I came down here, maybe you should put in a red light to warn people when it's safe to come down," she replied.

"There wouldn't be a problem if you rang the doorbell instead of letting yourself in all the time," Tommy told her.

"Alright point taken, now where's Nikki, she called and asked me to come over," Hayley responded.

"She's upstairs, she wasn't feeling well so she went back to bed," he said.

"Your room or hers?" she asked.

"Hers, she doesn't want Emma to know about us just yet," he answered.

"So you're an _US_ now?" she questioned.

"I hope so, I really love her Hayley," he responded.

"Well I'm really happy for you both, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go check on Nikki," she said turning around and heading back upstairs.

Hayley walked upstairs and headed towards Nikki's bedroom but not before peeking in on Emma who was taking a nap. She quietly closed Emma's door and walked across the hallway knocking gently on Nikki's door.

"Tommy said you're not feeling well," Hayley said when she entered the room.

"Yeah, I don't know what's with me lately," Nikki responded.

"Maybe you're just tired from all the extracurricular activities you've been engaging in lately," Hayley teased.

"I am so sorry you walked in on that, but trust me it won't happen again," Nikki told her.

"Let's just forget it ever happened shall we, now tell me what's going on, you sounded so urgent on the phone," Hayley said.

"Oh Hayley, I don't even know where to begin, these past few weeks have been like a whirlwind," Nikki began.

"You're in love, you're entitled to get caught up in it," Hayley told her.

"Yeah but I think Tommy and I got a little too caught up," Nikki replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Hayley questioned.

"I think I'm pregnant," Nikki revealed.

"Oh my gosh, are you sure?" Hayley asked.

"I'm not sure of anything but I've been feeling really rundown lately and I haven't felt like this since I found out I was pregnant with Emma and then I realized that I was late so I just put it together," Nikki informed her.

"Wow, have you talked to Tommy about this," she responded.

"No, I didn't want to freak him out in case I'm wrong, but what if I'm right and I am pregnant, this can't be happening, I've been acting like some lovesick teenager with no thought to the consequences, I'm not sixteen anymore, I shouldn't be making these kinds of mistakes," Nikki cried.

"Nikki, you just have to stay calm, you can get through this especially with Tommy by your side, he won't let you go through this alone," Hayley said.

"I swore to myself that I wouldn't bring another child into this situation, how could I be so stupid," Nikki replied.

"You're not stupid, this is an entirely different situation, Tommy isn't Tim," Hayley told her.

"I know that Hayley but right now my daughter and I are in hiding from my psycho husband, what kind of life is that to bring another baby into, what kind of life will that be for Tommy, what happens when Tim finally announces publicly that Emma and I are missing and I have to go back on the run, I can't take a baby," Nikki ranted.

"It doesn't matter if Tim finds you, Tommy will protect you, Emma and this baby," Hayley promised.

"I don't even know if there is a baby yet, that's why I called you, I need to be sure, I was hoping you could go and buy me a pregnancy test," Nikki told her.

"Of course, I'll go right now, the sooner you know the better," Hayley replied.

"Just please don't say anything to Tommy, he can't know where you're going," Nikki said as Hayley left.

Nikki walked downstairs and found Tommy in the living room watching cartoons with Emma.

"Mommy," Emma said excitedly as she saw her mother.

"Hi sweetie," Nikki said giving her daughter a hug.

"You feeling better?" Tommy asked as Nikki took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nikki told him.

"Really, because it seems like you're worried about something," he replied.

"I'm fine, I can handle it," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Now who's worried," she answered.

"Hi, I'm back," Hayley announced as she interrupted them.

"I didn't realize you were coming back," Tommy told her.

"Well, I wanted to bring Nikki something to help her feel better," Hayley replied.

"That's really sweet of you Hayley, to come back so soon, why don't we go upstairs and you can show me what you brought," Nikki said.

"You sure you want me to come with you?" Hayley questioned.

"I need you to," Nikki said.

"What's going on here?" Tommy asked.

"Nothing, why would you think something's going on," Hayley responded.

"I don't know, maybe because the two of you are acting kinda weird like you're trying to hide something," Tommy told her.

"We're not hiding anything, we just need a little girl time that's all," Hayley said as she and Nikki raced up the stairs before Tommy had time to question them further.

"Thank you so much for getting back here so fast," Nikki said once she and Hayley reached her bedroom.

"I still think you should tell Tommy what's going on," Hayley told her.

"I will, if there's something to tell that is," Nikki said as she took the pregnancy test out of the bag.

"Good Luck," Hayley said as Nikki headed off to the bathroom.

"I still can't believe this is happening," Nikki said as she returned minutes later.

"So you're pregnant?" Hayley questioned.

"I don't know yet, it'll take a few minutes, I was talking about the situation in general, I can't believe I've been so irresponsible," Nikki answered.

"Stop beating yourself up, so you let your guard down for a minute and actually let another man inside your heart, that's a good thing from where I'm standing," Hayley told her.

"I just can't be pregnant, I can't," Nikki said.

Hayley walked downstairs and found Tommy and Emma still in the living room where they had left them.

"Hey Emma, that's a really beautiful picture," Hayley commented.

"Where's Nikki?" Tommy asked.

"Upstairs, you should go talk to her, I'll stay here with Emma," Hayley told him.

"So there is something going on," Tommy said.

"Just go talk to Nikki," Hayley replied.

Tommy walked upstairs and knocked on Nikki's bedroom door.

"Come in," she said.

"Hayley sent me," he said as he entered the room.

"I know, I asked her to," Nikki replied.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked.

"I'm not really sure how to answer that," she responded.

"Nikki, you can tell me anything, I thought you knew that by now," Tommy said.

"I do know that, I just never thought I'd be telling you this," she replied.

"Telling me what?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant," she told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I just took a pregnancy test, two actually, so I'm as sure as I can be since I can't really go to a doctor," she answered.

"Wow, this is the last thing I expected when Hayley said I should come up here," Tommy told her.

"Yeah, it was a surprise to me too," Nikki said.

"I guess I should have known this might happen, I mean we haven't exactly been taking precautions which I'm sorry for, I'm usually not this irresponsible," Tommy said.

"Well you weren't irresponsible alone you know, I'm as much to blame for this problem as you are," Nikki told him.

"So that's how you see this pregnancy, as a problem?" he questioned.

"Oh Tommy, I didn't mean it like that but we are in an impossible situation, I mean I'm married to another man who I happen to be in hiding from and this is not something I want to bring a baby into," she answered.

"Does that mean you want to get rid of it?" Tommy asked.

"No, no I could never do that, especially after all I went through to even have Emma, but I just don't know how we're going to make this work," Nikki replied.

"I wish I could tell you I had a solution but I don't not yet but I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure that you, Emma and this baby remain safe," Tommy said.

"That's the only thing I am sure of," Nikki told him.

"We'll get through this you'll see, everything will be fine," Tommy said as he put his arms around her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's note: **_The response to this fic has been so overwhelming. I really can't believe it sometimes. It really makes me want to update as often as possible so thanks!!!_

**CoolDiva: **_Yes, Nikki's pregnant and all is well in her and Tommy's world. But Tim is definitely still out there and he's coming soon. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Yes, Nikki really is pregnant which of course will only complicate things. _

**Chylea3784: **_I know it's a shocker but Nikki is pregnant and Tommy's the dad. _

**welleg: **_Yeah, Tommy's gonna be a daddy. _

**GinaStar: **_Yeah, they really should have been smarter. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_And it'll keep getting deeper._

**moonlite-n-roses: **_What can I say even Mr. "perfect" ranger can make a mistake sometimes and you're right it's not all good. Big bad Tim is lurking around the corner. _

**PinkAzn: **_Sorry for the confusion I guess in my haste to update I forgot to mention that it has been about a month or more since Tommy and Nikki finally hooked up. _

**lover1111: **_I'd update everyday if I could but I gotta give everyone time to read the latest chapter. _

"Thanks for coming over Hayley, I really appreciate it," Tommy said once Hayley had arrived at the house.

"You know I don't mind, I love watching Emma," Hayley replied.

"I know it was short notice but I finally got Nikki to agree to see a doctor and I don't want to give her a chance to change her mind," Tommy told her.

"I'm glad she finally agreed to see a doctor, but how exactly are you going to pull that off I mean I can't imagine Nikki's going to want them to know who she is," Hayley said.

"We decided the safest thing to do is go to the free clinic, that way Nikki can give them a fake name and we won't have to worry about them asking too many questions," Tommy told her.

"Good morning Hayley," Nikki said as she joined them.

"How are you feeling?" Hayley asked.

"You mean when I'm not in the bathroom throwing up every single thing I've eaten," Nikki retorted.

"Well at least that's a sign that you're definitely pregnant," Hayley said.

"Yeah but I don't remember being this sick when I was pregnant with Emma," Nikki replied.

"Speaking of Emma, have you told her about that baby yet?" Hayley asked.

"No, it'd just be too hard for her to understand, I think we should wait until I'm actually showing and then I can explain to her that there's a new baby in Mommy's tummy," Nikki answered.

"And then there's the task of explaining to her that I'm the baby's daddy," Tommy commented.

"Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it," Nikki told him.

Awhile later, Tommy drove Nikki to the Reefside Free Clinic.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Nikki asked once they had arrived and Tommy parked the car.

"Nikki, you need to see a doctor," he responded.

"I don't mean that, I mean are you sure it's a good idea that you come inside with me, I mean what if someone recognizes you," she said.

"So what if they do," he replied.

"So don't you think people might start wondering about the mystery woman you just happened to be with at a free clinic," she said.

"People can wonder all they want, it's none of their business why I'm here or who I'm with, I've managed to keep my privacy so far so I see no reason that has to change now," he told her.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, I mean I've been here for six months and yet Tim still hasn't reported me or Emma as missing so I guess I'm just worried when it's going to happen," she replied.

"I wish I could tell you that's never going to happen but the fact remains that Tim's out there and he could very well find you and Emma but you can't keep living in fear of when that day's going to come, you're not that same woman who never fought back you're stronger now and that's something Tim won't be prepared for, so for right now let's just concentrate on the good stuff," Tommy said.

"I don't know how you do it but somehow you always know just the right thing to say," Nikki said with a smile.

"Does that mean you're ready to go see the doctor?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go," she answered as they got out of the car.

An hour later, Nikki and Tommy were back at his house and ready to share the news they had gotten from the doctor with Hayley.

"How'd it go?" Hayley asked.

"It went fine, there's no doubt about it, I'm definitely pregnant, eight weeks to be exact," Nikki answered.

"It was so amazing Hayley, we actually got to hear the baby's heartbeat, it finally feels like I'm going to be a father," Tommy told her.

"Congratulations I'm really happy for you both and I promise to be the best Auntie in the world," Hayley said with a smile.

"Oh man, I hate to leave like this but I'm about to be late for my first class, I'll come home at lunch and check on you," Tommy said.

" I thought we talked about this, you can't keep coming home everyday at lunch to check on us, we'll be fine, I have to learn to not be afraid every time I'm left alone here," Nikki told him.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he said.

"Tommy, I mean it, I'll be fine," she said as he left.

"So do you think he'll actually do what you ask and stay away?" Hayley questioned.

"No, he'll come home anyway, ever since he found out I was pregnant he's been so overprotective like he's afraid to leave me alone or something, and yet he's the one who keeps telling me that I can't spend all my time worrying about when Tim's going to show up," Nikki told her.

"Becoming a dad is a big deal to Tommy, so you might want to prepare yourself you think he's overprotective now just wait until you're actually showing," Hayley said with a laugh.

"I know Tommy's excited about the baby but I also know this isn't exactly the way he planned on becoming a father," Nikki said.

"You mean because the pregnancy was an accident?" Hayley asked.

"No, I mean that Tommy probably expected that he would be married before starting a family and instead he got me, and I'm sure he's not too happy about the fact that I'm still another man's wife," Nikki responded.

"You might still be married to Tim but you're not his wife, you don't love him and Tommy knows that," Hayley assured her.

"Maybe but that hasn't stopped Tommy from researching ways for me to get a divorce without Tim stopping me," Nikki replied.

"He might be on to something there, I mean don't they do it all the time on soap operas just fly down to the Dominican Republic and get a divorce no problem," Hayley said.

"Don't you think I've thought about that before, Jen spent so many hours researching it for me and even though I could get a divorce without Tim, he'd still have to be notified and if I didn't notify him and he contested it then it wouldn't be legal here in the US and then there's the whole custody issue that would complicate things, I'm afraid there's just no easy way I can get out of this marriage, unless I agreed to give Tim custody of Emma and I will never agree to that," Nikki told her.

Back in Denver, Pat Williams walked into the headquarters of Tim's campaign office to share the latest news he had on Nikki and Emma.

"It's about time you came back, you better have good news for me," Tim told him.

"I checked out that lead your mother-in-law gave us on Hayley Viktor, I went to Reefside and at first it seemed like I had hit a dead end, people reported seeing Hayley with a little girl that she claimed was her niece so I checked out her sister and it turns out that her sister Natalie doesn't have a daughter, so I went back to Reefside and started following Hayley hoping that she would eventually lead me to the little girl I suspected to be Emma," Pat explained.

"And did she?" Tim asked.

"No, but Hayley spent a lot of time going to one particular house, it's owned by a Dr. Thomas Oliver and according to the people I talked to, Hayley and Tommy are close friends which would account for all the time she was spending there, I staked out the house and the only two people coming in and out of there were Tommy or Hayley and I was about to give up when finally Tommy emerged from the house a few days ago with another woman, it was Nikki she was wearing a blonde wig but it was her," Williams informed her.

"Are you sure it was her?" Tim asked.

"Yes, I've been searching for this woman for months now so trust me I've got her face memorized, it was definitely her," he answered.

"Thank you for your services, here's the rest of the money I owe you," Tim said as he quickly wrote out a check.

"What will you do now?" the investigator questioned.

"Nothing yet, I'm heading out on the campaign trail for a few weeks so I'm going to let that bitch keep on thinking that everything is right in the world and that's she's managed to give me the slip and then when she least expects it, I'm going to get my daughter back," Tim replied.

"If you want, I could go back there and make sure she stays put," Pat told him.

"That won't be necessary, now that I know where they are I've got my own people that can handle it, you've done your job, now get out of here and remember no one finds out about this," Tim said.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: **_All fairytales must have a villain and this one is no exception._

**CoolDiva: **_Here's the next chapter, hope you weren't waiting with too much anticipation to see what will happen now that that Tim knows where they are. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_Nope, it's never good when a psycho like Tim finally learns where his wife has been hiding. _

**GracefulCrane: **_You're right there can be nothing but trouble now that Tim has found them. _

**welleg: **_Be curious no longer, read on to find out what Tim does. _

**Chylea3784: **_I'm sorry to say there will be no warning from the investigator. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_All I can say is the meeting between Tommy and Tim won't be pretty. _

**GinaStar: **_Yup, he's found her all right. _

**PinkAzn: **_Don't worry Tommy will throw in a few kicks to Tim on your behalf._

"Hayley, I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Nikki said as they looked around the maternity section of the department store.

"Hey, I'm not the one who's pregnant and you didn't really expect for me to go shopping here alone, I mean what if someone saw me and thought I was pregnant and one guess who people would assume is the father of my child," Hayley replied.

"Ok, ok point taken but I still don't think this was necessary I mean I'm not even that big yet," Nikki said.

"But you are starting to show, face it Nikki in another month there will be no denying this pregnancy and you're going to need maternity clothes," Hayley told her.

"The name's Robin when we're in public remember," Nikki whispered as she adjusted the blonde wig she was wearing.

"Oops, sorry minor slip up, it won't happen again, what do you think about this," Hayley said holding up a shirt.

"It's pink," Nikki said.

"Yeah so," Hayley responded.

"Don't you remember anything from high school, when did you ever catch me wearing pink," Nikki told her.

"But you were a cheerleader," Hayley said.

"Yeah but I wasn't into that girly stuff, why do you think my daughter's favorite color is purple because I never let her have anything pink," Nikki replied.

"Ok, so no pink but what about that blue dress over there," Hayley said.

"That might actually work," Nikki said.

"Good, go try it on, maybe you can wear it to dinner tonight when we meet up with Tommy and Emma," Hayley told her.

A couple of hours later, Nikki and Hayley had finished up their shopping trip and headed to the Cyberspace to meet up with Tommy and Emma.

"We're getting a little careless aren't we, meeting out in the open like this?" Nikki asked once they had arrived.

"Don't worry, I had my employees close up early today and Tommy promised that he and Emma would come through the back so no one would see them," Hayley told her.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just feeling a little paranoid, and I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop," Nikki replied.

"Mommy, mommy," Emma said when they came through the door.

"Hi Emma, Mommy missed you so much," Nikki said putting down her shopping bags and picking up Emma to give her a hug.

"Wow, Nikki you look great," Tommy told her as he admired the new black dress she was wearing.

"Thanks, Hayley helped pick it out," Nikki replied as she put Emma down.

"Actually, I wanted her to get it in blue," Hayley said.

"So did you get everything you need?" Tommy asked noticing all the shopping bags.

"Yeah, for now, but don't worry I didn't use your credit card," Nikki replied.

"Nikki, I thought we talked about this," Tommy said.

"No, we talked about you buying things for the baby not for me," Nikki responded.

"But Nikki, I want to provide the things that you need," Tommy told her.

"And you are, you've given me and Emma a safe place to stay and we have food and anything else we could ever need but I need to do some things for myself," she said.

"I understand that but I'm the reason you need new clothes so I think that I should pay for them," Tommy replied.

"As fun as it would be to hear you two argue about who should pay for what, Emma and I going out for some pizza," Hayley said interrupting them.

"I thought we were all having dinner here together," Nikki responded.

"I want pizza," Emma said.

"See that settles it, Emma and I are going out for pizza and you and Tommy can have this place to yourselves, we'll see you later back at the house," Hayley said grabbing Emma and heading out the door before Nikki could protest.

"Did she just set us up?" Nikki questioned.

"I was gonna warn you about this, I noticed it when Emma and I arrived," Tommy answered pointing out a table that had only two place settings instead of four.

"At least now I know why she insisted I wear this dress tonight," Nikki replied.

"I'm glad you listened, you really do look amazing in that dress," Tommy told her.

"Thanks, in another month I'll be too fat to look amazing in anything," she said.

"Fat, skinny, you'll always look amazing to me," he said as he drew her into a kiss.

"How was dinner?" Hayley asked a couple of hours later when Tommy and Nikki finally returned home.

"It was good, where's Emma we want to talk to her about the baby," Nikki answered.

"That's great but I'm afraid it'll have to wait until tomorrow, she's already asleep," Hayley replied.

"I guess we'll have to wait until morning, I'm gonna go kiss her goodnight, thanks for watching her Hayley," Nikki said as she went upstairs.

"She looks a lot like you when she sleeps," Tommy commented a few minutes later as he stood in the doorway of Emma's room.

"Hayley already leave?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah, I promised to call her the minute we break the big news to Emma," Tommy replied.

"Emma's going to hope for a little brother, she used to ask me if she could have one for Christmas, I told her Santa didn't deliver babies," Nikki said as she and Tommy stepped out into the hallway.

"Did you ever think about having more kids after Emma?" Tommy questioned.

"I always wanted a big family but I couldn't bring another baby into the world not with Tim, sometimes I regretted even having Emma but I can't imagine life without her now," Nikki replied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, you should go to bed, get some rest," Tommy told her.

"Will you stay with me?" she asked.

"What about Emma, I thought you didn't want her to know about us," he said.

"Tommy, we're telling her about the baby tomorrow, I think she's gonna figure it out," Nikki replied.

"Ok, but we're sleeping in my room," he said taking her hand and leading her down the hall.

Later that night, three figures crept around the back side of Tommy's home and walked up to the back door.

"Boss, I don't think this is such a great idea, I mean aren't we breaking and entering or something," one of them said.

"I don't pay you to think, that bitch has kept my daughter away from me long enough and I want her back now," Tim said.

"Looks like we won't have to do any breaking," the second guy said as he twisted the knob to the back door and it swung open.

"You two stay here, I'll call for you if I run into to any trouble so stay where you can hear me," Tim ordered as he walked into the kitchen.

Tim made his way through the kitchen and into the living room and finally proceeded to creep up the stairs being careful not to make any noise as he reached the top of the stairs. He entered the first room that he came to and slowing opened the door. He looked inside the room and was surprised to see that he had found the right room. He walked over to the bed watching Emma sleeping soundly and gently shook her awake.

"Emma, baby its Daddy, I'm here to take you home," he said when she opened her eyes.

"Daddy?" she questioned almost not recognizing him.

"That's right Emma, its Daddy, don't be afraid we're going back home," Tim said as he picked her up into his arms.

"Is Mommy coming?" Emma asked.

"Of course Mommy is coming but first I'm gonna take you to the car and then I'll come back for Mommy, now be really quiet, we wouldn't want to wake your friend Tommy," Tim said as he opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Tommy asked as he felt Nikki get up from the bed.

"I just have this feeling that I should check on Emma, I'll be right back," she told him.

Nikki opened Tommy's bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway. She made her way towards Emma's room and stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Tim heading towards the staircase with Emma in his arms.

"Mommy, look Daddy came to get us," Emma said as she spied her mother.

"No, stop, put her down," Nikki said.

"Hello Nikki, did you miss me," Tim said turning around to face her.

"Tim, just let Emma go, this is between me and you," Nikki told him.

"Emma, why don't you go back to your room and get your things and Daddy will come and get you in a minute," Tim said putting the little girl down.

"It's ok Emma, just go back to your room," Nikki told her.

"It was very clever of you coming here to Reefside, it took my investigator months to find the connection between you and Hayley but once he discovered that Hayley's sister didn't have a daughter well if wasn't hard to figure out," Tim said once Emma was gone.

"You need to leave now, you're trespassing and if Tommy finds you here he'll call the cops and you'll be arrested for breaking and entering," Nikki told him.

"You think your new boyfriend can do anything to me, let him call the cops and when he does you'll be arrested for kidnapping," Tim replied.

"I didn't kidnap her, she's my daughter," Nikki said.

"Yes but you took her away without telling anyone, without my consent and that my dear is kidnapping," Tim told her.

"I won't let you take her," Nikki said.

"You can't stop me, now I'm leaving here with my daughter and I suggest you crawl back into bed with your new boyfriend or I'm afraid I'll be forced to press charges against you and you'll be giving birth to that bastard baby of yours in prison," Tim replied.

"How did you know?" she questioned.

"My men have been following you for weeks, you and this Oliver guy were seen going to a free clinic and today you went shopping for maternity clothes so it wasn't hard to figure out, now if you'll excuse me, my daughter and I are leaving," Tim said as he went back to Emma's room.

"I won't let you do this," Nikki told him.

"You don't have a choice," Tim said as he went in and took Emma by the hand and began leading her back towards the stairs.

"Emma, come to Mommy," Nikki said as she went after them.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Emma questioned.

"Mommy's just really happy to see Daddy again, aren't you," Tim answered.

"Emma, you can't leave without saying goodbye to Tommy," Nikki replied.

"Tommy's sleeping right now Emma, we'll call him and say goodbye later," Tim said still holding the little girl's hand.

"You can't leave without Teddy, can you?" Nikki asked her.

"Daddy, I can't leave Teddy," Emma said.

"Alright, go get Teddy, I'll wait right here and then we're leaving," Tim told her as he let go of her hand and watched as the little girl went back to her room.

"Emma, lock the door, lock the door now and stay inside until I come and get you," Nikki said as she rushed over and shut Emma's bedroom door.

"You stupid bitch," Tim said as he slapped Nikki across the face after seeing that Emma's door was now locked and he couldn't get to the child.

"You'll never take her from me," Nikki told him as she held her face.

"You never learn do you, I was prepared to let you and your new boyfriend live a happy life, all you had to do was give Emma back to me and you couldn't even do that," he said as he threw Nikki up against the wall and put his hands around her neck.

"Tim, please don't," Nikki gasped.

"You are nothing but a common whore; you don't deserve to be a mother, I should have taken care of you a long time ago," he said as he began squeezing her neck.

"Get your hands off of her!" Tommy yelled.

"Stay right where you are or I'll break her neck," Tim told him.

"Let her go you bastard," Tommy said.

"The only bastard around her is that brat she's carrying, tell me how did it feel to know you were screwing another man's wife," Tim said.

"You son of a bitch," Tommy said as he sprang towards Tim and pulled him off of Nikki.

Nikki ran downstairs as Tommy's fist connected with Tim's face. She entered the living room and picked up the phone to dial 911.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a man said.

"Please don't hurt me," Nikki said seeing that there were two of Tim's men in the room.

"Why don't you turn around and let's head back upstairs," one of them said.

"Boss, are you ok?" they asked as one of them pulled Tommy and Tim apart.

"Take care of him, my wife and I have some unfinished business," Tim said as the two men dragged Tommy downstairs.

"Don't come near me again, I'm not that same woman who was deluded into marrying you," Nikki told him.

"I don't have to hit you to hurt you, Emma unlock the door, come to Daddy, you want to go home don't you," Tim said.

Nikki watched in horror as Emma unlocked the door and Tim grabbed the little girl by the hand.

"I won't let you take her," Nikki said standing in front of the stairs and blocking their path.

"Get out of the way," Tim ordered as he let go of Emma's hand and stood in front of Nikki.

"What are you gonna do, hit me again, I'm not afraid of you, not anymore," Nikki told him.

"I don't give a damn what you are, I'm leaving and I'm taking Emma with me," Tim shouted.

"The hell you are, she's my daughter not yours," Nikki shouted back still blocking his exit.

Tommy heard Nikki and Tim shouting upstairs. He had just finished fighting Tim's goons whom he had beaten by using his martial arts skills. The two of them lay unconscious on the living room floor. He stepped over them and started back towards the stairs when he heard Nikki scream and then he watched in horror as she came tumbling down the stairs. He looked up and saw Tim standing at the top of the stairs and something just snapped inside.

"Emma, go to my room and call Hayley just like I showed you, tell her Mommy needs help," Tommy said.

He watched as Emma ran off to his bedroom and he waited until she was no longer insight before grabbing a hold of Tim.

"If anything happens to Nikki, I'll make sure you're never able to hurt her or Emma ever again," Tommy told him.

"I told that slut to get out of my way but she wouldn't listen, she's nothing but a whore and she deserves what ever happens to her," Tim replied.

"You bastard, I'm gonna kill you," Tommy said as he began to repeatedly hit Tim in the face.

Hayley arrived sometime later and found Nikki unconscious at the bottom of the staircase. She was followed by two policemen who upon seeing Nikki immediately called the paramedics. They heard the sounds of fighting upstairs and raced to see what was going on. They got upstairs and saw Tommy who was beating Tim into a bloody pulp.

"Hold it right there, you're under arrest," one of the officer's said as he pulled a gun on Tommy.

"No, you've got it all wrong, this is his house, that man is an intruder," Hayley told them.

"We're gonna take them both in," the other officer said.

"Hayley its ok, just make sure Nikki and Emma are ok," Tommy said as he found himself being handcuffed.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: **_Tim finally got what he deserved but he's not going anywhere yet. _

**CoolDiva: **_Wait no longer here's more. _

**Chylea3784: **_You know, I never really thought about Nikki having a showdown with her mother but maybe I'll write it in for you since you're such a loyal reviewer. Never apologize for leaving long reviews those are my favorite. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_You're right to have that sense of dread because Nikki and Tommy have a tough fight ahead of them. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Unfortunately, there's more trouble ahead for Nikki. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks, to learn Nikki's fate you'll have to read the chapter. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Yes, Tommy whooped some ass and you're right Tim's not done. _

Hayley rushed over to the nurses' desk at Reefside General Hospital. She had just arrived from dropping Emma off at the Mercer mansion with Elsa who had promised to keep the little girl until Hayley returned.

"Excuse me, I need some information about a patient that was brought in not too long ago," she said to the nearest nurse.

"Are you family?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, I'm her sister, her name is Nikki," Hayley responded.

"The doctor is with her right now, I'll let him know that you're here," the nurse told her.

Hayley took a seat in a nearby chair and a few minutes later a doctor appeared.

"How is she?" Hayley asked.

"That fall she took was pretty serious, she has a slight concussion but no broken bones, she's awake, you can see her if you like," she replied as she motioned for Hayley to follow her to Nikki's room.

Hayley walked into Nikki's room where she lay perfectly still on the hospital bed.

"Nikki, thank goodness you're ok, you have no idea how worried I was when I saw you lying at the bottom of the stairs," Hayley said.

"Hayley, where's Emma, please don't tell me he got to her, she has to be safe, please tell me she's safe," Nikki responded.

"Don't worry, Emma's fine, she's with some friends and I promise she's someplace Tim can't reach her," Hayley told her.

"She must be so scared, I can't believe Tim pushed me right in front of her," Nikki said.

"Maybe it's good that she saw because now she knows that Tim's the bad guy," Hayley replied.

"I need to get out of here, I need to see Emma," Nikki said as she tried to sit up.

"You're not going anywhere, you need to stay here where the doctors can keep an eye on you and the baby," Hayley told her.

"There is no baby," Nikki said as tears slid down her face.

"Oh Nikki, I'm so sorry," Hayley responded.

"It happened here in the hospital right after I woke up, I started having this terrible pain and I had a miscarriage, I shouldn't have got in Tim's way but he was gonna take Emma and now the baby's gone and it's all my fault," Nikki cried.

"No, no, it is not your fault, Tim is the one who did this and so help me we are gonna find a way to make him pay," Hayley replied.

"How am I going to face Tommy after what I did?" Nikki asked.

"You didn't do anything except try and protect your daughter and Tommy will understand that, he loves you Nikki he won't blame anything on you," Hayley assured her.

"Where is Tommy?" Nikki questioned.

"Seeing Tim push you sent him over the edge and let's just say he might have killed Tim if the police hadn't shown up and arrested him," Hayley answered.

"He got arrested, then why aren't you there trying to get him out, he doesn't deserve any of this I brought this mess into his life if anyone should be arrested it should be me," Nikki said.

"Trust me, I don't think you'd look good in the orange jump suit," Tommy said as he walked into the room.

"Are you ok?" Nikki asked seeing the cuts and bruises on his face.

"I'm fine, Tim looks a lot worse trust me," Tommy answered.

"What happened?" Hayley asked.

"They let me go unfortunately they let Tim go too," Tommy answered.

"How could they let him go?" Nikki questioned.

"There was no evidence of him breaking in and as for him pushing you well it was his word against mine and he decided not to press charges against me for beating him up so he came off looking like the good guy," Tommy informed her.

"Great, so now the police probably think I'm a horrible cheating wife who got caught by her husband," Nikki said.

"I don't want to talk about Tim anymore, I want to know how you are," Tommy said.

"I'm gonna go back to the Mercers and check on Emma, I'll be back soon," Hayley said giving Nikki's hand a squeeze.

"That was really subtle," Tommy said with a laugh.

"She probably thought I should tell you alone," Nikki replied.

"Tell me what?" he questioned.

"Tommy, I lost the baby," she said.

"Oh God, this is my fault I should have made sure all the doors were locked, if I had he never would've gotten in and you wouldn't be here, you'd be safe at home with Emma," Tommy sobbed.

"It's not your fault, Tim would have come whether the door was unlocked or not, I'm just sorry I put my own needs before the baby," she replied.

"No, we are not going to do this, we are not going to take the blame for something that bastard did and I promise you I am never going to let him touch you again," Tommy said as he put his arms around her.

A few days after being released from the hospital, Tim's lawyer arrived in Reefside and served Nikki with divorce papers and a summons to appear in court because Tim was suing for full custody of Emma. So Nikki and Emma, accompanied by Tommy and Hayley flew back to Denver.

"I am so happy to see you again but I'm sorry that you had to come back," Jen Gordon said after Nikki arrived at her apartment.

"I'm happy to see you too, I've missed you," Nikki said giving her friend a hug.

"Oh Emma, you've gotten so big," Jen said as she took the little girl in her arms.

"I'm four now, I wish you were at my party, I got to be Princess Emmaline," Emma told her.

"Well, you'll just have to tell me all about it," Jen said as she put Emma down.

"It's really nice to meet you, Nikki told us how you helped her get away," Hayley said.

"I'm glad to meet you too, it's nice to see that Nikki had another best friend to look after her," Jen replied.

"Hi Jen, I'm Tommy," he said holding out his hand to shake hers.

"It's nice to shake the hand of the man who kicked Tim's sorry ass, too bad you didn't kill him," Jen said.

"I wish I had," Tommy told her.

"You guys must be exhausted from your trip, why don't I show you where you'll be staying," said Jen.

"I should put Emma down for a nap, but I'm too stressed to sleep, I just want to know about this lawyer you hired," Nikki replied.

"Nikki, we can talk about all of that in the morning, you need your rest you've been through a lot and your body needs time to heal," Jen told her.

Nikki had informed Jen about the confrontation with Tim that had caused her to lose the baby.

"I'll put Emma down if you'll just tell me where," Hayley said.

"Ok, it's the first door on the left down the hall and you're staying in the room across from it," Jen told her.

"Come on Emma, time for your nap," Hayley said.

"Tommy will you read me a story?" Emma asked.

"Of course I will," Tommy said as he picked her up and they left the room with Hayley following him.

"Emma seems really taken with him," Jen observed as she and Nikki took a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, he's great with her, almost like a dad," Nikki replied.

"I can't believe you run away and manage to fall in love with such a great guy," Jen remarked.

"I know, trust me I fought hard not to but I honestly don't know what I would have done if Tommy hadn't come into my life," Nikki told her.

"He must really love you a lot to come all this way to help you fight for Emma like this," Jen said.

"Part of me didn't want him to come, I don't want him to have to see me go through this court battle because I know Tim and it's going to turn ugly but then I don't know how I'd get through it without Tommy here," Nikki replied.

"Don't you worry about a thing, I found you a great lawyer and she has an excellent record of winning her cases, you are not going to lose Emma," Jen told her.

"Maybe it's time to finally tell the truth," said Nikki.

"Are you sure you're ready to do that?" Jen asked.

"I never wanted it to come out but I will do whatever is necessary to keep my daughter," Nikki responded.

"Then we trust that this lawyer is as good as her reputation and no one will ever have to know," Jen said.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's note: **_The fight for Emma begins and Nikki is forced to reveal a secret that will shock everyone. Oh and yeah there's a court room scene in this chapter and no I have no knowledge of how all that works so please don't be too critical if I get some things wrong that scene is really not the point of the chapter. Also it may seem to jump around a bit to different people so I apologize for any confusion I'm just wanted to get it all done in one chapter._

**moonlite-n-roses: **_That feeling of dread is right on because everything will come out. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_I hope the court battle will live up to your expectations._

**BellaCordelia: **_It's ok if you don't have time for reviews, I'm glad to get them when you can though. _

**Chylea3784: **_The whole letter thing would never interfere because as stated in a previous chapter Kim is happily married and has a family with Jason. _

**welleg: **_The custody battle should be interesting at least I hope it is. _

**CoolDiva: **_If I used any former ranger as the lawyer than I agree that Trini would be the best choice. _

**PinkAzn: **_I know how it can get with homework, which is the reason I'm now stuck updating only on the weekends. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Ah, I didn't mean to make you cry, I hope you like this next chapter. _

**GinaStar: **_Nikki's gonna do whatever it takes to make sure that Tim does not end up with custody of Emma._

"Natasha Davis, meet Nikki Durham," Jen said as she let the lawyer into the apartment.

"Hello Nikki, nice to meet you," Natasha said as she extended her hand to Nikki.

"Ms. Davis, thank you so much for agreeing to represent me," Nikki said as they shook hands.

"When Jen told me about your case well I just couldn't refuse and please call me Natasha," the lawyer replied.

"I'll leave you two alone so you can get started," Jen told them.

"We've got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it in, before we get into the custody issue let's talk about your divorce settlement," Natasha said once they were alone.

"I don't want anything from Tim, not alimony, not child support, not even the Durham name, all I want is the possessions I came into the marriage with," Nikki told her.

"I understand your choice of not taking any money from him but when you win custody you're going to need that money to support your daughter," Natasha replied.

"No, I have money stored away until I can find a job and I have enough to pay you for your legal fees so I don't need Tim's money, I just want him out of my life and out of my daughter's life," Nikki said.

"We'll talk about my payment after the hearing is over, now I need you to tell me everything about your marriage to Tim and the events leading up to you taking Emma," Natasha replied.

Days later, it was time for the custody hearing to begin. Nikki walked into the courtroom with her lawyer followed by Jen, Hayley and Tommy who were all potential witnesses that might be called to testify. Emma had been left with a neighbor of Jen's who was also a friend of Nikki's.

"I can't do this," Nikki said as they walked into the empty courtroom.

"It's ok, we're all right here with you," Tommy said as he pulled her into a hug.

"You two might want to be careful with public displays of affection, we don't need Tim using that against you," Natasha told them.

"I have a feeling he's going to use it anyway, that man is a snake," Jen said.

"Don't worry Nikki, if this judge has any compassion at all she won't take Emma away from you," said Hayley.

"I'm hope you're right," Nikki said as she took her seat next to her lawyer as Tim and his attorney arrived on the scene.

"All rise, the Honorable Judge Miller presiding," the bailiff announced.

"You may be seated, I have reviewed the terms of this case, Mrs. Durham is seeking no alimony for the dissolution of the marriage and wants only those assets belonging to her prior to the marriage, is this agreeable to your client Mr. Johnson," Judge Miller said.

"Yes, your honor," Tim's attorney said.

"Then we will proceed to the issue of custody, you may begin Mr. Johnson," she said.

"Your honor, my client had been denied his legal rights as a father, Mrs. Durham took the child out of the state without the knowledge of her husband and even now refuses him contact with his daughter, we are here today to prove that Mrs. Durham is no longer fit to care for the child and that full custody of the child should be given to her father," the lawyer said.

"Ms. Davis, would you care to reply?" the judge asked.

"Your honor, Mrs. Durham is the child's mother and therefore does not need consent to take her daughter anywhere, I am here to prove that Mrs. Durham removed the child from her home because in her mind the home was no longer safe and Mrs. Durham was acting in the best interest of her child," Natasha responded.

"I will hear from Ms. Davis first, please call the first witness," the judge said.

"The court calls Nicole Durham, to the stand," the bailiff said.

"Mrs. Durham, please tell the court your reasons for taking your daughter," Ms. Davis said after Nikki had been sworn in.

"I was afraid for my life and I knew that I couldn't stay in my home any longer and I refused to leave my daughter behind," Nikki answered.

"And why were you afraid?" Ms. Davis asked.

"My husband and I had gotten into an argument right before he left for a business trip and he threatened to kill me," Nikki told her.

"Objection your honor, there is no proof such a threat was ever made," Mr. Johnson said.

"Your honor, I am only trying to establish the circumstances that led to my client's decision to leave without her husband's knowledge," Ms. Davis replied.

"I will allow this testimony to continue," the judge decided.

"Mrs. Durham, the fight that you had with your husband, was it physical?" Ms. Davis questioned.

"Yes, he punched me in the face and threw me on the ground and kicked my back repeatedly," Nikki answered.

"Was this the first time a fight with your husband had become physical?" Ms. Davis asked.

"No, there were numerous other times," Nikki replied.

"You've been married for seven years, is that correct?" she asked.

"Yes," Nikki said.

"And how long has the physical abuse lasted?" she inquired.

"Six years," Nikki told her.

"And why did you not leave your marriage after the abuse began?" Ms. Davis questioned.

"I loved my husband and every time he would promise never to let his temper get the best of him again and I believed him, and because my mother always convinced me that I should stay with him," Nikki said.

"Did the abuse stop once you had your daughter?" Davis asked.

"No, it got worse," Nikki said.

"And yet you still didn't leave?" Ms. David questioned.

"No, I wanted my daughter to have a family," Nikki replied.

"What changed your mind?" her lawyer asked.

"Emma was getting old enough to notice the bruises on my face and my body and I didn't want her to know they were being caused by her father," Nikki told her.

"So you decided to leave and take your daughter out of a hostile environment?" Ms. Davis questioned.

"Yes, I didn't want my daughter growing up and thinking it was ok for a husband to hit his wife," Nikki responded.

"Did you ever report the abuse to the authorities?" Ms. Davis asked.

"My husband wouldn't allow it," Nikki said.

"Did you ever suffer from broken bones?" she asked.

"Yes," Nikki said.

"And why didn't E.R. doctors report the abuse?" Ms. Davis inquired.

"Tim had a doctor who would come to the house to treat me," Nikki told her.

"And still this doctor saw no need to report your husband to the proper authorities?" Ms. Davis asked.

"Tim would tell him that I was just clumsy and had fallen down the stairs on accident and I never said anything to correct him," Nikki told her.

"No further questions at this time your honor," Ms. Davis said.

"Mr. Johnson, your witness," the judge said.

"Mrs. Durham, you never once tried to report this alleged physical abuse?" Mr. Johnson questioned.

"No," Nikki said.

"Then there's no actual proof that your husband ever laid a hand on you is there?" Mr. Johnson said.

"Objection your honor, I have other witnesses who will testify to seeing the bruises on Mrs. Durham's body," Ms. Davis interjected.

"Sustained," the judge decided.

"Mrs. Durham, you stated that you loved your husband is that correct?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Yes, I did," she said.

"So much so that you wanted to give him a child, is that correct?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Yes," Nikki replied.

"Did your husband ever physically abuse your daughter?" Mr. Johnson questioned.

"No," Nikki said.

"So would you say that your husband loved your daughter?" he asked.

"He appeared to," Nikki replied.

"Do you love your daughter?" he asked.

"Yes, I love my daughter very much," Nikki answered.

"And was it this love for your daughter that prompted you to run away and move in with a man you hardly knew?" he questioned.

"Objection, your honor," Ms. Davis said.

"Sustained," the judge said.

"Let me rephrase that, you've spend these last months living with a Dr. Thomas Oliver is that correct," Mr. Johnson asked.

"Yes," Nikki said.

"And isn't it also correct that you had never met Dr. Oliver prior to moving in with him?" he questioned.

"Yes, that's correct," Nikki said.

"So Dr. Oliver was a stranger to you and to your daughter and yet you moved into his home?" he asked.

"He was a friend of Hayley's and I trusted her judgment," Nikki responded.

"I have no more questions at this time," Mr. Johnson said.

Nikki was allowed to step down from the witness stand while her lawyer prepared to call her friend Jen Gordon to the stand.

"Ms. Gordon, how long have you known Nicole Durham?" Ms. Davis asked.

"Since freshman year in college," Jen answered.

"And you've stayed friends with her throughout her marriage to Tim Durham?" she asked.

"Yes," Jen said.

"Ms. Gordon, did you ever notice any signs that Mrs. Durham had been hurt physically?" Ms. Davis asked.

"Yes, she would have visible bruises on her arms and legs and often she had black eyes," Jen replied.

"Did you ever try and convince Mrs. Durham to go to the authorities?" she questioned.

"Yes, but she was too afraid and after she had Emma she said she couldn't risk leaving her daughter," Jen told her.

"Ms. Gordon, how do you feel about Mr. Durham?" Tim's lawyer asked when he got up to cross examine her.

"I don't like him very much," Jen replied.

"Would it be safe to say that you hate my client?" Mr. Johnson questioned.

"I hate what he did to Nikki," Jen stated.

"Isn't it true that you hate my client so much that you wrote a children's book for his daughter in which the villain was based on my client?" he asked.

"There may be some similarities but the villain in my stories doesn't have a name," Jen replied.

"I have nothing further for this witness," Mr. Johnson said.

"I'd like to call Hayley Viktor to the stand," Ms. Davis said.

"Ms. Viktor, you knew Mrs. Durham in high school correct," Ms. Davis asked.

"Yes," Hayley said.

"Would you describe Mrs. Durham on the night she first showed up to your apartment?" Ms. Davis asked.

"Her face was swollen and she had a black eye and there were also bruises on her back," Hayley answered.

"And how did Mrs. Durham seem?" she questioned.

"She was afraid, she said she didn't know where else to go and that she needed some place safe to rest for the night," Hayley replied.

"And did Mrs. Durham appear to you to be the victim of domestic abuse?" Ms. Davis inquired.

"Yes," Hayley told her.

Hayley stepped down from the stand after being questioned by Tim's lawyer and then Tommy was called.

"Dr. Oliver, how did Mrs. Durham react when she first met you?" Ms. Davis asked.

"She seemed afraid," Tommy said.

"And what happened when you grabbed Mrs. Durham's arm to prevent her from leaving the room?" Ms. Davis questioned.

"She became instantly afraid and begged me not to hit her," Tommy replied.

"Why did you offer to let Mrs. Durham and her daughter stay in your home?" she asked.

"They needed to be somewhere her husband wouldn't look for them and Hayley's apartment was too small," he said.

"Would you say that you and Mrs. Durham have become close friends since getting to know one another?" Ms. Davis asked.

"Yes," Tommy responded.

"Dr. Oliver, isn't it true that you in Mrs. Durham became a lot closer than just friends?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Yes," Tommy said.

"And in fact you were engaged in a sexual relationship that resulted in Mrs. Durham becoming pregnant, were you not?" Mr. Johnson questioned.

"Objection your honor, whether or not Mrs. Durham and Dr. Oliver were sexually involved has no bearing in this case," Ms. Davis said.

"Sustained," the judge said.

"I'd like to call Mrs. Charlotte Hunter to the stand," Mr. Johnson said.

"Mrs. Hunter, would you say that your son-in-law is a devoted father?" he asked.

"Yes, Tim is a wonderful father, he absolutely adores Emma," Charlotte replied.

"How you describe the marriage between Mr. Durham and your daughter?" he questioned.

"Oh they had their fights like any other couple but Tim was always remorseful when things got out of hand, Nikki just liked to provoke him," she said.

"So you encouraged your daughter to stay in the marriage?" he asked.

"Yes, I believed my granddaughter should be with both her parents," she answered.

"So in your opinion, there's no reason Mr. Durham should be stripped of his parental right?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"None at all, Tim is a wonderful father and I know he loves Emma very much," she replied.

"Mr. Durham, how did you feel upon returning to your home and finding your daughter had been taken from you," Mr. Johnson asked.

"I was devastated, I love my daughter very much," Tim told him.

"And how has it been having no contact with her all these months?" he questioned.

"It's been terribly painful, I wouldn't wish this feeling on any father," Tim replied.

"Do you believe that you are the most capable of caring for your daughter at this time?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," Tim said.

"Mr. Durham, you hired a private investigator to search for you wife and daughter is that correct," Ms. Davis asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Why didn't you alert the authorities?" she questioned.

"I'm running for Senator and I didn't want the media to become involved," Tim answered.

"So you cared more about preventing bad press than you did getting your daughter back?" she questioned.

"Objection," Mr. Johnson said.

After all the testimonies were done, it was time for both lawyers to make their closing arguments to the judge.

"Your honor, Mrs. Durham was in an impossible situation, the abuse she lived with had reached it breaking point and she felt that taking her daughter and leaving was the best decision she could make for herself and for her child, Mr. Durham cares more about getting good press than he does about being a father and that is why I ask that full custody of the child be given to her mother," Ms. Davis said.

"Your honor, the abuse opposing counsel speaks of has never been proven, we only have the opinions of witnesses who were never present when the abuse allegedly took place, the fact is Mr. Durham loves his daughter and there is no reason that he should not be granted full custody, his wife's own mother has testified to that fact, Mrs. Durham took their daughter out of the state without even bothering to tell her husband and all my client wants is to make up for the time that he has lost," Mr. Johnson concluded.

An hour later, Nikki waited nervously outside the courtroom while the judge was off making her decision.

"I can't believe your mother testified against you," Jen said.

"I can, she always took Tim's side over mine," Nikki said.

"Don't worry, there's no way that judge would take Emma away from you after hearing about what Tim did," Hayley said.

"But there's no proof he ever abused me, oh god why didn't I ever report it," Nikki sobbed.

"You haven't lost yet, we just have to believe that things are going to work out," Tommy told her.

"It's time to go back inside," Ms. Davis told them.

"I have reviewed all the testimonies that were given and I believe that both parents love the child and I believe that Mrs. Durham believed that her life was in danger, however there is no proof of the alleged abuse and there was no risk to the child and Mr. Durham was unjustly separated from his daughter, therefore it is the decision of this court to place the child Emma Durham in the custody of her father with visitation rights given to her mother for a period of six months in which time I will review this case again," the judge ruled.

"NO, he can't have her; I won't let him take her!" Nikki screamed.

"Ms. Davis, control your client or I will hold her in contempt of court," the judge said.

"But your honor, he has no rights to my daughter," Nikki said.

"Bailiff please take Mrs. Durham into custody," the judge ordered.

"No, you don't understand," Nikki said as the bailiff walked towards her.

"Nikki, don't do it," Jen told her.

"I can't believe this is happening," Hayley said to Tommy.

"How could she award custody to that monster?" Tommy questioned.

"Please your honor, Tim has no rights to my daughter, he's not her father!" Nikki yelled.

"This is ridiculous your honor, Mrs. Durham has resorted to hysterics to sway the court's decision," Mr. Johnson said.

"Please your honor, let me explain, I'm telling the truth my husband is not the father of my child," Nikki responded.

"What is she talking about; did she ever tell you Tim wasn't Emma's father?" Tommy asked Hayley.

"No, she never said anything, I just hope Tim's lawyer isn't right and Nikki's just trying to prevent Tim from gaining custody," Hayley remarked.

"Why didn't she ever say anything before, why let us believe that Tim was Emma's father if he wasn't," Tommy replied.

"Alright Mrs. Durham, if your husband's not the father of your child then who is?" the judge asked.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that your honor, I don't know who her father is, I used an anonymous donor from a sperm bank, my husband was diagnosed with having a low sperm count but he refused to even consider alternate options, he even went so far as to have a doctor lie to me about my ability to carry a child but I went behind his back to another doctor and learned the truth," Nikki said.

"I can vouch for her your honor, I was with her at that appointment and it was me who suggested that she go to a sperm bank and then pass the child off as her husband's," Jen spoke up.

"Do you have proof of this?" the judge asked.

"Yes, I have the medical records from the doctor who inseminated me and documents from the sperm bank," Nikki answered.

"And your client had no knowledge of this?" the judge asked Tim's lawyer.

"None your honor," Mr. Johnson replied.

"Then I rule that a paternity test be done to prove whether or not Mr. Durham is in fact the father of the child Emma Durham but custody of the child shall be given to Mr. Durham until the results of the test are in and I can make a new judgment on the case," the judge decided.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's note: **_The three of you better be prepared to update and you know who you are. Especially you, MommyD!!!_

**CoolDiva: **_I told you I had some big twists for this story, can't wait to see what you think of this next one. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_I'm glad you approved of the court scene!_

**moonlite-n-roses: **_Hold onto your seat, the bomb's about to get even bigger. _

**Chylea3784: **_The judge isn't insane just doing what she thinks is fair. _

**Ryan T. Morris: **_Don't worry, Tim won't mess with the results. _

**welleg: **_I'm glad you liked the twist, there's more to come. _

**GracefulCrane: **_No the sperm bank thing is very real, sorry for shocking you. _

**GinaStar: **_Tim doesn't believe it's true so he won't do anything to hurt Emma. _

**PinkAzn: **_I'm glad you liked the ending, and Emma's father will be revealed. _

"I can't believe I have to do this," Nikki said as she packed Emma's bag.

"That judge is certifiable, I can not believe she thinks sending Emma to stay with Tim is a good idea," Jen remarked.

"I really thought telling the truth about Emma's paternity would change her mind but I guess I wrong and now Tim knows the truth, what if he does something to Emma now that he knows she isn't his," said Nikki.

"Lucky for us, Tim thinks he rules the universe, there's no way he believes that he isn't her father, he's probably telling himself that this is just your way of stalling the custody hearing," Jen said as they heard the doorbell ring.

"The social worker is here," Hayley announced.

"Mommy, I don't want to go away," Emma said.

"I know baby but Mommy explained it to you right, you're gonna go back to your old room and you'll have all your toys again and Marta will be there to take care of you," Nikki told her.

"But I want you to come too," Emma said.

"I know you do sweetie but I can't," Nikki said as tears slid down her face.

"We really need to go now," the social worker said reaching out for Emma's hand.

"No, I don't want to go, Mommy don't make me go," Emma cried.

"Emma, I know you're scared but you have to be brave just like Princess Emmaline would be," Tommy told her.

"Ok, Tommy," Emma said as she gave him a hug.

"I love you Emma, and I promise I'm going to come and get you just as soon as I can," Nikki said as she gave Emma a long hug goodbye.

"I'll take good care of her," the social worker said as she picked up Emma's bag and led Emma to the door.

"This wasn't supposed to happen, how could this happen," Nikki screamed after Emma was gone.

"Nikki, I'm so sorry," Hayley said as she went over to put her arm around Nikki.

"No, I can't deal with this right now," Nikki said as she ran into the room where she was staying.

"Nikki, wait," Tommy said as he started to go after her.

"Let her be, I think she needs to be alone for awhile," Jen told him.

The next day, Nikki sat with Hayley and Tommy in Jen's living room and prepared to tell the truth about Emma's conception.

"Why didn't you ever tell us that Tim wasn't Emma's father?" Hayley asked.

"It's not really a subject you bring up in conversation," Nikki answered.

"But you could have trusted us to keep your secret," Tommy said.

"I know but part of me was ashamed of what I had done, I mean what kind of woman has another man's child and then passes it off as her husband's," Nikki replied.

"So why'd you do it, I mean why take such a huge risk of Tim finding out some day?" Hayley questioned.

"I was desperate, I wanted a baby more than anything in the world and so did Tim, he was so enraged that it was taking us so long to conceive and he was even more enraged when he found out that he was the problem, of course he took that rage out on me and he insisted that the fertility specialist we went to was incompetent and he wanted a second opinion only this time he paid off the doctor to lie and tell me that I was incapable of carrying a baby and I was devastated," Nikki explained.

"That bastard he can't give you a baby so he lies and tells you that you can't have one at all," Tommy said.

"That's why I insisted that she get a third opinion," Jen said as she joined them.

"I couldn't believe it when Jen's doctor told me that I was perfectly healthy and that there was no reason I couldn't get pregnant and of course I was angry that Tim would stoop so low to pay a doctor to lie but stupidly I still thought I loved him and I told myself that if we had a child Tim would stop hurting me," Nikki said.

"So that's when I suggested that Nikki get artificially inseminated and then pass the baby off as Tim's," added Jen.

"I didn't want to at first, I couldn't even imagine being pregnant with someone's child and then lying to everyone about it but like I said I was desperate and I did want to have a baby and the fact that the donor was anonymous made it even more appealing because I'd never have to worry about someone showing up one day and claiming to be the baby's father," Nikki explained.

"But how did you get Tim to believe that he was the father?" Tommy questioned.

"Tim had this big business convention in L.A. and I somehow convinced him that I should go along, I told him that I was going to do better and that I would stop doing things that made him angry, I also convinced him that we should try one last time for a baby despite what the doctors said and he agreed, so while he was off at one of his meetings I pretended to go shopping for the day," Nikki answered.

"What Tim didn't know was that I had flown to L.A. too and that I had made all the arrangements for Nikki at the sperm bank and I even found a doctor that could do the procedure for her," Jen informed them.

"I'm not sure I could have gone through with it if Jen hadn't been with me but once the procedure was done I had to get Tim to sleep with me, I didn't even know if it had worked but a few weeks later I turned up pregnant and Tim just assumed the baby was his and I didn't let him think otherwise," Nikki finished.

"So you don't know anything at all about Emma's father?" Hayley questioned.

"No, just that he had brown eyes, and brown hair just like me, I didn't care if the baby looked like Tim or not I just wanted him or her to look enough like me that Tim wouldn't question it," Nikki responded.

"Maybe you should think about trying to find Emma's real father, I mean maybe this guy would be willing to help you get Emma away from Tim," Hayley said.

"No, I never want to know, Emma's mine and that's all that matters besides there was a fire at that sperm bank a few years ago and everything was destroyed including the records of the donors so even if I wanted to find Emma's father there'd be no way of finding out," Nikki replied.

"It doesn't matter who Emma's father is because after those test results come back there's no way that judge will let Tim keep Emma," Jen said.

"From your lips to God's ears," Nikki told her.

Two weeks later, Nikki was back in court as she awaited the results of the paternity test to be announced. She was anxious to get back the results that would prove that Tim was not Emma's father and would ensure that custody of Emma would be given back to her.

"I know this has been a long ordeal for both parties so I will keep this short, the paternity of the child named Emma Durham has been determined and the test shows that Tim Durham is not the child's father," the judge announced.

"I knew it," Nikki said.

"I wish you would have told me this sooner and we might have avoided all this," her lawyer whispered.

"However, because Nikki Durham was married at the time of the child's birth, legally Tim Durham is the child's father and thus Mr. Durham has the legal right to continue his fight for custody if he so chooses," the judge said.

"Your honor, my client loves his daughter biology or not and he would like to pursue full custody," Tim's lawyer announced.

"He doesn't want Emma, he wants to make me suffer for finally leaving him," Nikki said so only her lawyer could hear.

"Your honor, I would like to request that in light of the paternity results that custody of the child be given back to her mother until the custody hearing has been determined," Natasha Davis said.

"Ms. Davis, I will take your statement into consideration, I will retire to my chambers and reconvene in half an hour," the judge said.

"Don't worry Nikki, there's no way that judge will give Tim custody now that it's been proven that Tim's not her father," Jen assured her.

"I'm not so sure, especially now that Tim's acting as though this news hasn't changed anything," Nikki said.

"The judge is ready to make her decision," Ms. Davis told them.

"A final custody hearing for the child Emma Durham will take place in one week and the child will be placed in the custody of social services so that neither parent will be tempted to take the child and flee, I will see you back here in one week's time," the judge told them.

"How can she keep taking my daughter away from me?" Nikki questioned.

"It's only for a week and at least she didn't let Tim keep her," replied Jen.

"I can't believe that son of a bitch still wants custody," Tommy said.

"He's doing it on purpose to punish me for running away with Emma and for being with you," Nikki told him.

"I don't care what we have to do, we won't let Tim win," Hayley said.

"I'm gonna go see Emma, Natasha got me visitation and I'm sure Emma's wondering why I haven't come to get her," Nikki said.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Tommy asked.

"No, I want to see her alone, I'll see you later at Jen's," Nikki answered as she walked away from.

"She's pulling away from me again," Tommy said.

"She's just scared," Jen told him.

After the hearing, Tommy and Hayley went back to Jen's apartment and Hayley immediately went to work on her laptop.

"Hayley, what are you doing?" Tommy questioned.

"I know Nikki said she didn't want to know the identity of Tim's father but I've been searching for him anyway, I think we might need him now that Tim still wants custody," Hayley answered.

"But Nikki said all of the records were destroyed, how can you possibly hope to find anything," he responded.

"It's a long shot but I have a friend who works at L.A. General Hospital and I talked him into running a test to see if we can find a match to Emma's D.N.A. the test will search through every record on file at the hospital so if Emma's father's ever been a patient at the hospital then it'll find him," Hayley answered.

"Isn't that kind of thing illegal?" he asked.

"Yes but I sort of forged Nikki's signature on some consent forms authorizing the search, I told my friend to email me if the computer found a match and I guess it did because I got an email from him today," Hayley replied.

"Shouldn't you talk to Nikki before looking at those results?" Tommy questioned.

"Probably but knowing her she'd delete the email before we found out anything and I think we might need this guy's help especially if that judge keeps favoring Tim the way she has been," Hayley responded.

"But what if this guy's like a criminal or something," Tommy said.

"Only one way to find out," Hayley said as she opened the email and read the contents.

"Who is it, whose Emma's father?" Tommy questioned after Hayley remained quiet and just stared at the screen.

"I don't believe it, it's just not possible," Hayley said after a few minutes.

"What's not possible?" Tommy inquired.

"How can this be possible?" Hayley asked.

"Hayley, come on, what is Emma's father like some celebrity who's married with kids," Tommy commented.

"Not exactly," Hayley said turning the computer around so that he could see the screen for himself.

"Oh my god," Tommy whispered.

"This isn't possible right, I mean there's no way that this could be true, because if it was then that would mean…," Hayley said.

"It's possible," Tommy told her.

"What!" Hayley exclaimed.

"This is unbelievable," Tommy said as he stared at the results again.

"You've got some explaining to do, when did this happen," she said.

"Well you remember when we first met, I had quit racing, I was having trouble finding a job and my parents were paying for my tuition and I didn't want to keep borrowing money from them," Tommy explained.

"So you went and donated sperm?" she questioned.

"A guy in one of my classes mentioned that he did it whenever he needed some quick cash and I wasn't sure if I could go through with something like that but like I said I needed the money," he answered.

"I can't believe you never told me," she responded.

"It's not exactly the kind of thing I want people to know, it was just that one time," he said.

"Well it's a good thing to do I guess, I mean it helps people who can't have children have a family but didn't you ever think about what would happen if those kids decided they wanted to meet you one day," Hayley replied.

"I figured I'd handle it if it happened but it hasn't so far and to be completely honest I never even thought about it again until Nikki revealed that Tim wasn't Emma's father but I never even considered that I could be," Tommy told her.

"If it helps, no one else in the hospital database matched you or Emma, so I think it's safe to say you don't have to worry about anymore unknown children popping up," Hayley replied.

"I can't believe Emma is mine, I mean I've loved that little girl from the moment I met her," Tommy said.

"Maybe this explains why you and Emma connected so fast," Hayley commented.

"Wow, how am I going to tell Nikki," he said.

"Tell me what?" Nikki said as she walked in the door.

"Promise you won't get mad," Hayley said.

"What's going on?" Nikki asked.

"I know you asked me not to but I did a search for Emma's biological father," Hayley answered.

"Hayley, how could you, I told you I didn't want to know, I mean what if this guy decides that I'm an unfit mother because I stayed with Tim, he could decide to sue me for custody!" Nikki yelled.

"He won't do that, I promise," Tommy said.

"And how could you possible know that," she said.

"Because it's me, I'm Emma's father," Tommy told her.

"Oh I get it, you two have come up with this master plan to help me win custody," she said with a laugh.

"It's not a joke, read the results for yourself," Hayley said showing her the email.

"My god, what are we in the middle of some crazy soap opera, this can't be possible," Nikki said.

"But it is possible, I'm Emma's father," Tommy said as Nikki fainted and hit the ground.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note: **_The support for this story has been amazing. I really appreciate it. It won't be long now before we near the end. _

**CoolDiva: **_All I can say is that Tim definitely won't be happy when he learns that Tommy is Emma's real father. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_I've been waiting forever to reveal the twist that Tommy is Emma's father, I'm glad I could amaze you. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_Don't you worry, Tommy is definitely going to have his say in who gets Emma and trust me he'll make sure it isn't Tim. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Didn't mean to give you a heart attack!_

**Chylea3784: **_I'm glad that my little twist was actually a surprise for some people. _

**GinaStar: **_Yeah, women can't help but fall at Tommy's feet..LOL. _

**welleg: **_Thanks, I'll do my best to keep you interested. _

**AJ: **_No this story has a totally different vibe than Bewitched but that story will get a sequel so look out for it._

"This is so unbelievable," said Jen who handed a glass of water to Nikki who sat on the couch.

Jen had come home to find Nikki passed out on the couch and Hayley and Tommy filled her in on the truth about Emma's paternity.

"Yeah, we're pretty blown away by it too," Hayley said.

"Is this real?" Nikki asked as she held the copy of the test results that Hayley had printed and stared at the results.

"Yes, according to this test there's no doubt about it, Tommy is Emma's biological father," Hayley told her.

"It's like it was meant to be, I mean what are the odds that you would run away from Tim to find Hayley who just happened to be best friend's with your daughter's real father, I'm telling you this was destiny or something," Jen told Nikki.

"It's a miracle," Tommy said.

"Speaking of miracles, do you guys realize what this means that judge will no reason to give custody of Emma to Tim, I mean how can she, once the truth about Emma comes out," Hayley said.

"Knowing that judge, she'd find some reason to give custody to Tim anyway," Jen told her.

"Now that I think about it, what if Tim has paid that judge off somehow, I mean he's rich enough and it would explain why she keeps siding with him," Hayley remarked.

"Nikki, are you ok, you're being awfully quiet," said Jen.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just still in shock about this whole thing," Nikki told her.

"Come on Jen, why don't we let the two of them talk for a minute, I mean it's not everyday you find out you share a child together," Hayley said.

"I'm telling you, its fate," Jen said one last time before she and Hayley left the room.

"That's just like Jen, she's always believes that fate has a hand in everything," Nikki commented.

"Do you think she's right, that somehow fate brought us together?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know what to think, I mean I never wanted to find Emma's real father, I had her because I was trying to save a marriage that wasn't even worth saving, I can't imagine how you must feel about me now knowing that Emma is yours and knowing that I allowed her to grow up in such a hostile environment," Nikki answered.

"No, don't do that, don't start apologizing for something that wasn't your fault, I don't blame you for any of this, I'm just glad that I could be here to help you get out of all that, and you've given me the greatest gift any man could hope for, I have a daughter because of you, I love you Nikki," Tommy said and then he kissed her.

"I love you too and everything would be perfect if we just had Emma back with us where she belongs," Nikki said.

"We'll get Emma back, that I promise you but how are we going to explain to her that I'm her daddy," Tommy said.

"We'll figure out a way, it shouldn't be too hard, Emma already loves you and you've been more of a father to her than Tim's ever been," Nikki replied.

"I've missed so much of her life, so many moments are already gone," Tommy said.

"True, but there are just as many moments still to come and now you can be there for all of them," Nikki told him.

"Sorry to interrupt but I put in a call to Natasha Davis, I didn't tell her anything just that there were some new developments that would help to get Emma back and she's on her way over to talk to you," Jen said as she reentered the room.

"I'm glad she's coming, the sooner we get Emma back the better," Nikki said.

"Jen, can I borrow your car, there's something I need to take care of, Nikki do you think you can handle talking to your lawyer alone," Tommy said.

"What could be more important than meeting with my lawyer to get Emma back?" Nikki questioned.

"It shouldn't take long, I'll be back as soon as I can and I promise you, we will get our daughter back," Tommy told her as Jen handed him her car keys.

Tommy got into Jen's car and pulled out a piece of paper that had an address written on it. He then typed the address into the car's GPS system. Sometime later, Tommy parked the car outside an office building.

"Is Mr. Durham here?" Tommy asked the secretary.

"Yes, he is but Mr. Durham's not seeing anyone today," she answered.

"Oh I think he'll see me," Tommy said as he walked past her desk and headed towards Tim's office.

"Wait, sir, you can't go in there," she called after him.

"Hello Tim," Tommy said as he walked in and found Tim on the phone behind his desk.

"I'm sorry Mr. Durham I tried to stop him," the secretary said.

"It's ok Linda, I'll handle this," Tim said as he hung up the phone.

Tommy waited until the secretary had left and then he closed and locked the door behind her.

"Let me guess, you're here to beg me to drop my custody suit so that you can continue to play house with that whore of a wife of mine," Tim said.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Tommy told him.

"Well here I am and there's no one around to stop you," Tim said getting up from the desk and coming face to face with Tommy.

"You'd like that wouldn't you, for me to beat the shit out of you again and end up in jail where Nikki and Emma would have no protection from you," Tommy said.

"I don't need you in jail to get what I want, the courts are going to make sure that I get custody of Emma and Nikki will never see her again," Tim replied.

"Emma isn't even your daughter, so why do you want her so badly?" Tommy asked.

"I love that little girl despite her mother's shortcomings, I've always loved her and she's been mine since the day she was born and I'll be damned if I let that slut take her away from me, it'll serve the bitch right for lying to me all these years, just think she thought she was pulling one over on me by lying about Emma's paternity well she's the one who's being punished," Tim said with a laugh.

"You bastard, you will never get Emma," Tommy said as he slammed Tim into the wall and then put his arms around Tim's neck.

"Go ahead, hurt me so my secretary can call the police," Tim said.

"I could kill you right now, just one little snap and then you wouldn't be able to hurt Nikki or Emma ever again, but that's not why I came here today, I just wanted to be the one to see the look on your face when you learned the truth, I'm Emma's father and I've got the dna test to prove it, that's right Tim, Emma is my daughter," Tommy said as he cut off Tim's air supply.

"You're lying, there's no way you could be Emma's father," Tim said once Tommy loosened his grip a little.

"Oh there's a way, not to get too technical or anything but that donor that Nikki used, well that was me, and it's true that Nikki and I never knew each other but somehow fate has brought us together and now we know that I'm Emma's biological father and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you never see my daughter again," Tommy told him.

"You might be Emma's biological father but I'm the only father she's ever known and that alone is enough for the judge to give me full custody," Tim replied.

"Let me ask you something Tim, just how do you think the voters will react when they learn the truth about you, that's right I know all about your campaign and I also know how any sort of question about your character will ruin your chance for office, how will people feel knowing that you beat your wife when she was pregnant with the daughter that you claim to love so much or how about the fact that your trying to take her away from her mother not to mention the fact that her biological father has been found and he happens to be in love with her mother and you're trying to take a child from her parents, I know how careful you've been to keep your divorce and custody hearing out of the media so I'd hate for that kind of information to get out," Tommy told him.

"What do you want?" Tim asked as Tommy still held him pinned to the wall.

"I want you to drop the custody suit and then I want you to sign a document denying your claim as Emma's father or else we'll fight this out in court and I'll make sure that every sordid detail of this is leaked to the media," Tommy answered.

"Mr. Durham, are you alright in there?" the secretary asked as she began knocking on the door.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," Tommy said as he released Tim unlocked the door and said nothing to the bewildered secretary.

Sometime later, Tommy arrived back at Jen's apartment and he decided not to tell Nikki about his conversation with Tim.

"I thought Ms. Davis was on her way over?" Tommy questioned seeing that Nikki's lawyer had not yet arrived.

"She got called into to court for another client but she said she'd be here soon," Nikki told him as the phone rang.

"Nikki, it was Natasha, she said you need to come down to the court house something's happened, she sounded urgent," Jen announced.

"This can't be good," Nikki said as she and Tommy headed for the door followed by Jen and Hayley.

They arrived at the court house only hours after Emma had been taken into the custody of social services.

"They're gonna take Emma away from me, somehow Tim's found a way to make sure that I'll never see my daughter again, I mean why else would we get called back into court today," Nikki said as she paced back and forth outside the court room.

"Nikki, don't do this to yourself, maybe the judge has decided that Emma belongs with you because Tim's not her biological father," Jen said as she tried to reassure her.

"Let's just wait until Ms. Davis gets here and then we'll deal with it, I'm not letting Tim take our daughter away, I promise you that," Tommy said.

"Mommy, mommy!" came Emma's voice as she spotted Nikki.

"Oh Emma, sweetie I missed you," Nikki said as she pulled Emma into a hug and held on tight not wanting to let the little girl go.

"Hi Tommy," Emma said when her mother finally released her.

"Hi Emma, I'm so glad to see you," he said as he gave his daughter a hug.

"I don't understand, what's going on," Nikki said to the social worker.

"I'm not sure, we were just told that Emma needed to be at the courthouse," the social worker replied.

"That's because she's going home with her mother where she belongs," Natasha Davis said as she finally came out to meet them.

"The judge actually said that?" Nikki questioned.

"She didn't have to, Tim dropped the suit, his lawyer called the judge and said that his client no longer wished to pursue custody," Natasha answered.

"I don't believe it," Jen said.

"It's over, it's finally over," Nikki said.

"Mommy, do I have to go away again?" Emma asked.

"No baby, you are going home with Mommy where you belong," Nikki told her.

"Before you go, I need to speak to you and Tommy in private," said Natasha.

"Hey Emma, why don't we go and get your things from the social worker and then we'll be all set to go home," Hayley said.

"I'll go with you," said Jen.

"What did you need to see us about?" Tommy asked.

"Well, dropping the suit again Nikki isn't the only thing Tim did today, he also signed a legal document renouncing his claim as Emma's father which means that Tim's name will no longer appear on Emma's birth certificate and I just thought you'd like to get started on the paperwork that will legally make you Emma's father," Natasha replied.

"Is this ok with you?" he asked Nikki.

"Of course, you are Emma's father and I'd really like it if your name was listed on her birth certificate," Nikki responded.

"Alright, I'll draw up the necessary papers and everything should be done in a few days," Natasha replied.

"Come on, let's take our daughter home," Tommy said.

An hour later, there was a celebration going on in Jen's home as everyone was relieved to have the whole custody battle behind them. Now there was only the matter of explaining to Emma that Tommy not Tim was her dad.

"Are we going to live with Aunt Jen now?" Emma questioned.

"No baby, why do you want to stay here?" Nikki asked her.

"No, I miss my room, I want to go back to Tommy's," Emma answered.

"I'm glad to hear you say that because I want you and your Mommy to come home with me too," Tommy told her.

"Can we Mommy?" Emma asked.

"Yes Emma, we'll go home with Tommy but first I need to tell you something, that man that you called your Daddy well he was a bad man and he was really mean to Mommy and that's why I took you away but he's not your daddy anymore Emma, I know that may be hard to understand but we are never going to see that bad man again," Nikki informed her.

"I don't want a Daddy who's mean to Mommy," Emma said.

"That's good but you know what else, you have a wonderful Daddy, one that loves you very much and one that loves Mommy and I think you already love him too, and you know how I know that," Nikki said.

"How?" Emma asked.

"Because I'm your daddy Emma," Tommy answered.

"I'm glad you're my daddy," Emma told him.

"Well I'm very glad that you're my daughter, now come here and give your daddy a hug," Tommy replied.

"I'm really going to miss you guys but I'm glad you're going home with Tommy where you belong," Jen told them.

"You just make sure that you come and visit us a lot," Tommy replied.

A few days later, Nikki and Emma were sent the things that Nikki wanted to keep from Tim's house and they were finally ready to move to Reefside with Tommy. But before she left Denver for good, there was one more person that Nikki needed to sort things out with.

"Nikki, what are you doing here?" Charlotte Hunter asked after Nikki and Emma were let into her home by the housekeeper.

"I've come to say goodbye Mother, Emma why don't you go and see if your grandpa is in his study," Nikki said.

"Running away again, honestly Nikki do you want to raise your daughter looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life?" Charlotte questioned.

"Didn't your beloved son-in-law tell you, the custody battle is over along with my marriage and Tim has given up his rights as Emma's father," Nikki answered.

"Why on earth would he do such a thing?" Charlotte asked.

"Because Tim is not her father and for once in his life he's actually doing the right thing, I don't know what changed his mind and I don't care because I am free," Nikki responded.

"You are making a mistake, how on earth are you going to take care of Emma all by yourself," her mother said.

"I'm not alone mother but even if I were I would find a way to take care of my daughter, I don't need Tim or his money to do that," Nikki told her.

"That's right because you have your inheritance to fall back on because I unlike you thought about my daughter's future," Charlotte replied.

"I am thinking about my daughter's future, I am making sure that her mother is around to see her grow up, but you, you would rather watch your own daughter get beaten down like a dog just to keep your rich son-in-law happy, I couldn't believe it when I saw you walk into that court room, you testified against your own daughter, what kind of mother does that, did you ever even love me or was I just a way to secure your ties to my father's money," Nikki yelled.

"Of course I loved you, I only wanted the best for you," her mother told her.

"Then why didn't you help me get out of that marriage, you saw what he did to me and yet you convinced me that I had no choice but to go back to him, you didn't want what was best for me, you wanted what was best for you, you wanted me married off to a rich husband of my own so that you could keep my father's money for yourself, well you keep the money, I hope it was worth losing your daughter over because I will never forgive you for what you tried to do," Nikki said.

"Nikki, I never meant to hurt you but Tim loved Emma and he would have taken care of her, a little girl needs a father," Charlotte responded.

"Emma has a father, you see it turns out that her biological father is Tommy and he loves her and she loves him and he was more of a father to her than Tim ever was even before we learned the truth so my daughter is going to be just fine, goodbye mother," Nikki said as she left her mother in stunned silence.

"Nikki, sweetheart, Emma just told me that she has a new daddy," Nikki's father said as Nikki entered his study.

"Yeah, it's unbelievable really but it turns out that Tommy is her real father," Nikki told him.

"I want to apologize to you, I haven't been a very good father, I was so wrapped up in my company that I never realized the horror that you've living through, your mother always told me things were fine and I should have known she was only saying what I wanted to hear," he replied.

"It's ok Dad, there was nothing you could have done, I had to be the one to finally realize that I was strong enough to get out of it, I know you would have tried to help if I had only told you what was happening but that's in the past and I just want to move on with my life," Nikki told him.

"I hope you'll still let me see Emma, it's going to be really lonely around here without her visits," he said.

"We'll miss you too Dad and I expect you to come and visit us in Reefside, I'd really like for you to get to know Emma's real father," Nikki replied.

"I'll look forward to it," he said.

An hour later, Nikki and Emma had left her parents home and they headed to the airport to meet Tommy and Hayley.

"Is everything ok?" Tommy asked Nikki.

"It is now, let's go home," she said.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's note: **_This story has gotten the most reviews out of any other story I've written and I just want to say thank you to all of you who continue to support this fic. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thanks, it's nice to know I can still put some realism into this despite all the unreal things that have happened lately. _

**GinaStar: **_Thanks_

**Lone Nightblade: **_Thanks, I'm glad to know Tommy's confrontation with Tim was a good one and I hate to see this story end too but it has to happen. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Thanks_

**Chylea3784: **_The confrontation between Nikki and her mother wasn't originally in the chapter but I decided to throw it in for you so I'm glad you liked it. _

**moonlight-n-roses: **_Tim's too much of a coward to ever call Tommy's bluff to see if he would have really leaked things to the media._

**GracefulCrane: **_I'm glad you liked that chapter. _

Tim Durham sat in his campaign headquarters office when one of the volunteers knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Sir, your father is here to see you," the volunteer announced.

This was the visit that Tim had been dreading, he knew his father would be none too pleased to learn that Tim had given into Tommy's demands and had given up his legal rights to Emma.

"I go out of town for a few weeks and this is the mess I come back to," his father said knowing that his son would know exactly what he meant.

"What's done is done Dad, let's just focus on the campaign," Tim replied.

"The campaign, what campaign, how can you possible expect to win the votes now that you're a divorced father who abandoned his daughter, what are people supposed to think when they learn that you gave away your rights to your daughter," Victor Durham responded.

"I'll just tell them that the campaign trail is no place for a child and that I firmly believe a child should be with her mother besides she's not really my daughter anyway so I'd rather let people think I've abandoned her than to wonder how I was duped into believing she was mine in the first place," Tim told him.

"You should have kept a closer eye on that wife of yours then she never would have been able to trick you in the first place, she's made a fool of you, you should have taken that child from her it would have served her right for passing some other man's child off as the Durham heir, she's no better than that gold digging mother of hers," Victor replied.

"She may be a gold digger but Charlotte was on our side remember, she testified against her own daughter for me," said Tim.

"Yes I know but you had to go and screw all that up didn't you," Victor responded.

"Dad, what the hell was I supposed to do, Oliver was going to tell the sordid details of my marriage to the press and my campaign would have been ruined," Tim told him.

"I own the press in this town, damn it, do you actually think I would have let them print one word about this," Victor replied.

"What the hell does it matter now, it's over, Nikki won and I hope I never see that bitch again," Tim said.

"Don't you ever say that she's won, no woman will ever get the best of a Durham man, she may think she's won but when we're threw she's going to be left with nothing but the knowledge that she should never have crossed us," Victor told him.

Nikki woke up a few weeks later in Tommy's bedroom and found that she was alone in bed.

"I can't believe Tommy didn't wake me up," she said aloud as she got up and headed downstairs.

"Mommy's coming, Mommy's coming," Emma yelled when she saw her mother standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"What's going on?" Nikki asked when Tommy came out of the kitchen.

"Emma, why don't you take Mommy back upstairs and I'll be up in a second," Tommy told his daughter.

"Come on Mommy," Emma said as she took Nikki's hand and began pulling her along.

"Emma, what's Daddy's doing?" Nikki asked once she and Emma had returned to the bedroom.

"It's a surprise," Emma told her.

"A surprise for me?" Nikki questioned.

"Emma, I need my little helper," Tommy called from outside the door.

"I'll be right back," Emma said.

"Ok, I'll be here," Nikki said smiling as her daughter ran to help Tommy.

"Mommy, close your eyes," Emma called from outside the door.

"You can open them now," Tommy told her once he and Emma reentered the room.

"What's all this?" Nikki asked seeing Tommy holding a tray and Emma holding a long stem rose.

"We made you breakfast in bed," Emma announced.

"I can see that but what's the occasion it's not my birthday," Nikki said as Emma handed her the rose and Tommy sat the tray in front of her.

"We don't need an occasion to do something nice for you, we just wanted to show you how much we love you, isn't that right Emma," Tommy said with a smile.

"Mommy, I think you should give Daddy a kiss," Emma told her.

"Oh really, and did your Daddy tell you to say that?" Nikki questioned giving Tommy a look and he pretended not to notice.

"I think you should do what the kid wants," Tommy replied.

"Alright, but only because Emma said so," Nikki said as Tommy leaned down to kiss her.

"Daddy, I want to watch cartoons," Emma said bringing her parents back to reality.

"Don't you want to stay here and help me eat all of this?" Nikki asked as Emma shook her head.

"She already ate, go ahead Emma," Tommy said as the little girl went running to her room.

"This was very sweet of you," Nikki said as she took a bite of the toast.

"I know I said it wasn't a special occasion but that's not exactly true," Tommy said as he handed Nikki an envelope.

"These are my divorce papers, but my divorce isn't supposed to be final for another few months," she said.

"I guess Tim's money is good for something, he obviously wanted to speed things up," Tommy replied.

"I'm free, I'm actually free," Nikki said.

"That's not all that's in there," Tommy told her as he took the envelope and pulled out another piece of paper.

"Emma's birth certificate and it has your name on it," Nikki said as she read the document.

"Yeah, it's official, Emma Jean Oliver is my daughter," Tommy said.

"It has a nice ring to it," Nikki said with a smile.

"Yeah it does," Tommy replied.

"I never told you this but I named her after my grandma Jean, her full name was Emma Jean Novack, she was my mother's mother and she was wonderful and if she were still alive she never would have let me marry Tim, she would have seen through his act from the very beginning," Nikki told him.

"Sounds like a very smart woman," Tommy said.

"Oh she was, smart, strong, independent, everything that my mother never wanted me to be, they didn't get along my mother and grandmother that is, you see my grandmother was a single parent my grandfather was killed when my mother was young so my grandmother had to work to support them and well they didn't have much when my mother was growing up and she always resented my grandmother because of it, my mother was so furious when she learned that I had named my daughter after the mother she hated so much but I wanted Emma to grow up to be just like her, to be strong and independent and not weak like me," Nikki informed him.

"You're not weak Nikki, your grandmother left you with more strength than you realize and I just know she's gonna do the same for Emma," Tommy said as they kissed once more.

"Speaking of grandparents, have you given any thought to when Emma should meet your parents?" Nikki asked.

Tommy had called his parents a few days after they had returned to Reefside from Denver and explained everything to them. They were shocked upon learning that their son had a daughter but were anxious to meet their new granddaughter.

"Actually, I was hoping we could take a trip to Angel Grove tomorrow, Jason and Kimberly are having a birthday party for Dylan and they invited us," Tommy answered.

"So you told them the truth about everything, I imagine they were surprised at finding out that my real name isn't Robin and that you now have a daughter," Nikki replied.

"Yeah, they were shocked but happy and they can't wait to meet Emma," he said.

"You know for the first time in a long time I actually feel safe and happy and it's all thanks to you, I still can't believe that Tim is actually out of our lives for good," Nikki told him.

"Well believe it, we're a family now, you, me and Emma and nothing and no one is going to come between us," Tommy said as he kissed her again.

The next evening, Nikki and Tommy sat on the couch in the living room of his parent's home after finishing the dinner that his mom had prepared.

"Emma's only been here for a few hours and already she's got your father wrapped around her finger," Lily Oliver remarked as she brought in a tray of coffee from the kitchen.

"I'm just glad that Emma has the chance to get to know both of you better," Nikki told her.

"This isn't quite the way we imagined our son having a family but nonetheless we're absolutely thrilled to finally be grandparents," Lily replied.

"Now maybe you two will finally have a reason to visit me in Reefside instead of me having to come here all the time," Tommy told his Mom.

"Honey, do we have any empty jars, Emma and I are gonna catch some fireflies in the backyard," Rick Oliver said as he came in from the backyard.

"Check out in the garage," Lily said.

"I'm gonna go check on Emma, I still don't like the idea of her being alone for too long," Nikki said as she got up from the couch.

"Nikki, she's just in the backyard, I'm sure she's fine," Tommy told her.

"I know but after everything we've been through, it's hard to let my guard down," she replied as she left and went outside.

"Oh let her check Tommy, I'm a mom, I know how she feels, she just needs to see for herself that Emma is ok," Lily said.

A few minutes later, they heard Nikki scream and Tommy and his parents raced out to the backyard to see what all the commotion was about.

"Tommy, she's gone, Emma's gone!" Nikki screamed once they reached her.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Maybe she's just playing hide and seek," Lily suggested.

"No, I looked, she's not here, she's gone," Nikki sobbed.

"The back gate is open, maybe she got tired of waiting for Grandpa and just went to the front of the house," Lily said.

"I'm sure my mom is right, Emma's probably running around chasing a firefly and didn't realize she left the backyard," Tommy said as he ran over to the gate to look for her.

"Did you find her?" Lily asked her husband who had gone off with Tommy to search for Emma.

"No, we searched the front yard and a few of the neighbor's houses but Emma wasn't there," Ricky told them.

"It's Tim, he took her, I knew Tim wouldn't let go of her so easily, he set me up and I fell for it," Nikki said as she began to cry.

"Nikki, don't do this to yourself, there's no way Tim could have known you would be here, I'm sure Emma just got lost and any minute now Tommy's going to bring her back," Lily said trying to reassure her.

"Tommy, did you find her, did you find Emma," Nikki said when Tommy finally came back.

"No, I talked to a woman who was jogging and she said that she saw a little girl being carried by a man and they got into this black van and sped off but she didn't get a good like at the girl's face so we can't be sure that it was Emma," Tommy replied.

"It was her, it had to have been, he took her Tommy, Tim took our daughter," Nikki cried.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's note: **_Two reviews away from 200, I never thought I would see the day. Thank you again to all of you who review, it really helps to know what my readers think. _

**CoolDiva: **_The breakfast scene was great to write and I just had to throw one more twist in there before the ending. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_The apple didn't fall far from the tree where Tim and his father are concerned. _

**GinaStar: **_Yeah, Tommy's gonna do whatever it takes to get Emma back. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_If they were still rangers they might be able to help but since there's not, I'm afraid it'll take more than ranger power to stop Tim. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_I hope you won't be too disappointed with how this whole kidnapping plot plays out. _

**Chylea3784: **Glad you liked that line and yeah Tim and his Dad are both psycho.

**GracefulCrane: **_I'm happy you liked the beginning of that chapter, it sucks that Tim took Emma but I couldn't let the story be all happy just yet._

Three days later, there was still no sign of Emma or Tim. The Angel Grove Police were working closely with the Denver authorities who had searched every property belonging to Tim's family and yet they had turned up nothing. Tommy spent most of his time at the police station or with his father searching Angel Grove for anything or anyone that might lead them to where Tim had taken Emma.

"Nikki, would you like some tea, or maybe something to eat?" Lily Oliver, Tommy's mom, asked as Nikki sat by the phone waiting in case someone with information called.

"No, I the last thing I want right now is food, I just want my daughter back with me and Tommy where she belongs," Nikki responded.

"I can't even imagine the kind of pain you're going through right now but you haven't eaten anything in days and you're no good to Emma if you make yourself sick," Lily said.

"Ok, I'll eat, but later, I just don't understand why Tommy hasn't called yet, someone must have remembered seeing something by now, Tim couldn't have just disappeared into thin air," she told her.

"If Tim is out there somewhere, we'll find him, you just have to know that my son loves that little girl with all of his heart and he won't rest until he's brought her back to you," Lily replied.

"I know you're right, but I just can't sit here and do nothing, I think I'm going to go out and search for awhile," Nikki said.

"Are you sure you should do that I mean what if Tommy calls while you're gone, if there's news he'll want you to be the first to hear it," Lily told her.

"I'll take my cell phone with me, if he can't reach me here, Tommy will just call that," Nikki said as she headed for the front door.

An hour later, Nikki was walking through Angel Grove Park headed towards the lake. In the past hour, she had again knocked on every door within a mile of the Oliver's home and still no one seemed to know anything. She checked her phone for the millionth time but as always she found that she hadn't missed any calls. She put the phone into her pocket and was nearly knocked down as she collided with someone.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was walking," she said as she looked up at the person and immediately recognized him as one of the men who worked for Tim and had been there that night at Tommy's home the day that Tim finally found them.

"Don't be alarmed, I'm not here to hurt you," he said.

"Where's my daughter, did you help him take her?" she questioned.

"If you ever want to see your daughter again, I suggest you come with me peacefully," he responded.

Nikki followed him out of the park where a black car was waiting. He motioned for her to turn around and when she did, he blindfolded her and then proceeded to help her inside the car.

"Don't worry, it's not a long drive," he said with a note of amusement.

Nikki wasn't sure how much time had passed since she got into the car but finally it came to a stop. She heard the door being opened and then she was helped out of the car. Eventually, the blindfold came off and Nikki was surprised at her surroundings, she seemed to be in a cabin of some sort.

"Welcome Nikki," Tim said as she found herself face to face with him.

"Where is my daughter?" she asked.

"She's in the bedroom taking a nap the last time I checked, you needn't worry about her," he answered.

"Where are we?" she questioned.

"Would you believe that of all the places Tommy and the police checked out they never once thought to check out his family's cabin," Tim said with a laugh.

"I don't believe this, why'd you do it Tim, why take Emma back after signing away your right's to Tommy, what could you possibly have to gain by taking her," Nikki said.

"I love that little girl, I raised her for four years you think I can just turn those feelings off," Tim replied.

"I'm not buying this loving Daddy routine, I know you Tim, yes you love Emma but what you love even more is the image that having her got you, this isn't about her at all is it, you did this to get back at me for having another man's child and passing it off as yours," Nikki responded.

"You're right, I do feel satisfaction from knowing how you must have felt, thinking that you were never going to see your daughter again, well welcome to my world," he said.

"Don't you dare try and make me feel some sort of sympathy for you, I feel nothing for you Tim, all I want is to take my daughter home to her father where she belongs," Nikki said.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Tommy may be her father biologically but she was mine when she was born and I'm taking her back," he said.

"I'm not going to let you do this," Nikki told him.

"You don't have a choice, we were a family before Tommy Oliver ever entered the picture and we will be again," he said.

"So what, you want to stage some sort of reunion, tell your constituency that we've decided to start over, that won't happen Tim, Tommy will never sit back and let you take Emma from him," Nikki replied.

"I've decided to give up my campaign for my daughter, in fact I've decided to leave this country all together, we need a fresh start somewhere to escape our unfortunate past," Tim said.

"My gosh, you really are crazy, I mean would you listen to yourself, there is no way I will ever go anywhere with you," she told him.

"And like I told you, you don't have a choice," Tim said as he pulled out a gun.

Meanwhile back at the police station in Angel Grove, Tommy was waiting as the police tried to trace Nikki's location using her cell phone.

"How long does it take to trace a cell phone?" Tommy asked impatiently.

"Our men are working as fast as they can," the detective told him.

"Tommy, calm down and let the police do their job," his father said.

"Calm down, Dad how can you expect me to do that, my family is out there somewhere with a psycho," Tommy told him.

"Sir, we've got a lock on the phone's location," an officer finally said as he gave the information to the detective in charge of the case.

"What does it say, where is she?" Tommy questioned.

"Outside of Angel Grove, my best guess is that she's in a wooded area somewhere, maybe up in the areas where there are a lot of cabins," he replied.

"Tommy, you don't think…" his father said.

"The cabin, that son of a bitch took them to the one place he knew we'd never suspect," Tommy told him.

Nikki came out of the cabin's bathroom after being forced by Tim to dye her hair. While in there, she had felt the vibration of her phone and knew that it was probably Tommy trying to reach her but she didn't answer because Tim had stood in the bathroom door the whole time watching her. She knew she had to keep Tim at the cabin long enough for Tommy and the police to get there.

"I think I like you better as a blonde, and you seemed to enjoy wearing that blonde wig for Oliver," Tim said.

"The only reason I wore that wig was to keep you from finding me," she responded.

"Yes and now you'll have to spend the rest of your life with a constant reminder of all that you've lost," Tim replied.

"How do you expect to get out of town with me looking like this?" she questioned.

"Easy, while Oliver may recognize you as a blonde, the police certainly won't and by the time they figure it out, you, me and Emma will be on our way to living our new life," Tim answered.

"Tim, think about it, do you really want to spend the rest of your life with a woman who hates you and a little girl who's scared of you," she said.

"That's the only reason you're here because seeing you will give Emma a sense of security but know this, I have no problem with raising Emma as a single father, if you don't want to come with us, I'll gladly leave you behind and you'll never see your daughter again," he told her.

"There's no way I'm letting you take my daughter away from me," she said.

"Good, then I suggest we go into the bedroom and tell our daughter the good news that her Mommy and Daddy have decided to get back together," he replied.

"What happens when she says that Tommy is her Daddy?" Nikki asked.

"You'll simply have to tell her that you were wrong about that and that's why you're back with me, now quit stalling," he said.

"I'm not lying to my daughter, and I'm not going to let you do it either," Nikki said as she stood in front of the bedroom door.

"Perhaps you've forgotten that I hold all the power in this situation," Tim said as he pointed the gun at her.

The police followed by Tommy and his father, finally arrived on the road leading the cabin. They had decided against driving directly there in case the sound of their cars alerted Tim that they were on to him. They had gotten out of their cars and walked the rest of the way.

"Tommy, do us a favor and don't go rushing in there like a madman, let me and my men do our jobs, we don't know anything about what's going on in there, Tim could be armed and the last thing we need is you getting your head blown off because you couldn't wait for us," the detective said as they picked up their paced and were now running.

"I don't care what happens to me, that's my family in there and I want them out of there now," Tommy called back as he ran even faster.

Tommy approached the cabin and saw that there were no cars outside. He silently prayed that they weren't too late. If Tim managed to move them now, it might take time before the police were able to trace the phone again and by that time, Tim might discover it and then they'd lose all hope of finding them again.

"Alright men, some of you go around the back and see if you can see anything from those window we need to know what's happening in there before we go charging in," he told them.

"Maybe I could go and knock on the door or something, pretend that I'm a lost hiker, I doubt Tim would recognize me," Tommy's father said.

"I'm sorry sir but we have no way of knowing that, Tim could have been the one who kidnapped the child from you yard so he would have been watching the place and it's very likely he'd know exactly who you are," the detective said.

"I don't give a damn if Tim sees me, I'm not waiting here any longer," Tommy said as he ran towards the door.

"Oliver, get back here," the detective yelled as a gunshot was heard.

"Nikki, Emma!" Tommy yelled.

The policemen closest to the house wasted no time in knocking down the front door after hearing the gunshot. Tommy pushed his way through them and was shocked by the scene in front of him. Nikki was kneeling on the ground next to Tim and there was blood on her hands. The gun was lying on the floor next to them.

"Ma'am are you ok," one of the officers said.

"He's dead, I killed him, I had to," she cried.

"Nikki, it's ok, I'm here now, it's over," Tommy said as he knelt down beside her.

"Tommy, I killed him, he was going to take Emma and I had to stop him," she said.

"It's ok, you didn't have a choice, come on you're safe now," Tommy said as he helped her to stand up.

"I'm afraid she's gonna have to come with us," one of officers said as he held out a pair of handcuffs.

"No, you can't do that, Tim was a monster, he kidnapped our daughter, if Nikki shot him it was in self defense," Tommy told him.

"I'm sorry but she still has to come down to the station until we can determine what happened up here," the officer said.

"It's ok, I'll tell them everything," Nikki said quietly.

"Are those really necessary?" Tommy questioned referring to the handcuffs.

"Just following procedures," the officer said.

"Tommy, I'll be fine, just go and make sure Emma's ok, she's in the bedroom," Nikki said as she held out her hands to the officer.

Tommy walked into the bedroom and spotted Emma asleep on the bed. He was grateful that the gunshot hadn't woken her up. He sat down on the bed and gently shook her awake.

"Daddy, the bad man took me away," Emma said once she opened her eyes.

"I know baby, but he's gone now, you'll never have to worry about him again," Tommy said as he took her in his arms.

"Can we go home now?" Emma asked.

"Yes and I promise I will never let anyone take you away from us again," Tommy told her.

Tommy reached down and took a blanket off the bed to cover Emma's head because he didn't want her seeing Tim's body lying on the floor in the next room. He walked straight out of the cabin and didn't remove the blanket until they were safely outside where his father was waiting.

"Hi, grandpa," Emma said.

"Hey there Emma, I am so sorry I let that bad man take you away," he said.

"It's ok, Daddy saved me, he's our prince," Emma replied.

"Dad, take her home, I'm going to ride to the station with Nikki," Tommy said as he handed Emma over to her grandfather.

"I want to see Mommy," Emma said.

"You'll see Mommy very soon, I promise," Tommy said giving her a kiss on the forehead before watching as his father took her to the car.

"You'll never have to worry about him kidnapping your daughter again, he's dead," the detective said as they carried out Tim's body.

"What does this mean for Nikki?" Tommy questioned.

"I don't believe she meant to kill him, and we know that she didn't come up here for that purpose, she had no idea that he was keeping your daughter here so I'd say she has a good chance of getting off with a self defense plea," he answered.

Sometime later, Nikki sat alone in the police interrogation room as the detective took her statement for what had happened with Tim.

"Why did Mr. Durham pull a gun on you?" the detective asked.

"He was trying to get his point across that I couldn't stop him from fleeing the country with my daughter, he wanted the three of us to start over as a family," Nikki answered.

"And that's why your hair is dyed blonde?" he questioned.

"Yes, he stood in the bathroom door holding the gun to make sure that I did what he wanted," she replied.

"Did you at anytime get the gun away from him?" he inquired.

"No, he was gonna walk into the bedroom to get Emma but I stood in front of the door, he started pointing the gun at me and threatened to shoot so I told him to go ahead, I told him I wouldn't let him leave so he'd have to shoot me if he wanted to get to her, but he couldn't pull the trigger and he just kept walking towards me and I used the self defense that Tommy had taught me to grab his arm and wrestle the gun away but he just wouldn't let go and we were both struggling over the gun and then it just went off and suddenly Tim was on the ground and there was so much blood, and I knelt down to check for a pulse and that's when you guys showed up," Nikki informed him.

"It sounds like to me this was an unfortunate accident and you're lucky that it wasn't you who was shot," he said.

"Does that mean you're not going to charge me?" she asked.

"Yes, I know it wasn't premeditated, the gun was registered to Tim Durham and there are more of his prints on it than yours so I have no reason to suspect that what you told me is anything but the truth, I think you and your daughter have put up with enough from that man and I'm going to release you," he told her.

"Thank you, thank you so much, I just really want to see my daughter right now," Nikki said.

"What's going on?" Tommy said when he saw Nikki coming out of the room.

"She's free to go," the detective told him.

"It's over, it's finally over," Nikki sobbed as Tommy wrapped his arms around her.

"You're safe now, nothing is ever going to hurt you or our daughter ever again," Tommy said as he held her.


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Note: **_This is my first story to reach 200 reviews, I can't believe it. The honor of review #200 goes to CoolDiva! Just this chapter left and then comes the end. _

**CoolDiva: **_Thank you so much! You're right Nikki didn't have a choice and now Tim's out of her life for good. _

**Lone Nightblade: **_I figure most people would have thought Tommy would be the one to get rid of Tim but I thought Nikki deserved the honor. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Tim's father won't really be a factor._

**GinaStar: **_To know what fate befalls Tim's father, just read and see. _

**Chylea3784: **_Tim's father won't be able to do anything but to see why you'll have to read on. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_Yeah, Tim really went off the deep end and that's what got him killed. _

**GracefulCrane: **_Yes, Tim's finally dead!!_

A week after shooting Tim, Nikki was back in Denver. She walked down the hallway of a private hospital and stopped as she saw a woman coming out of the room of the patient that she had come to see.

"Nikki, what are you doing here?" the woman asked in surprise.

"I realize I'm the last person you expected or even wanted to see right now but I had to see for myself that the rumors were true," Nikki answered.

"It's true, my husband's had a stroke and they're not sure he's going to make it," the woman replied.

"Oh Margaret I'm so sorry, I can't imagine this is easy for you, first your son and now your husband, you must hate me," Nikki told her.

"I don't hate you for killing Tim, that man who terrorized you wasn't my son, I lost my son the minute his father started controlling his life, if anyone's to blame for all of this it's me, I knew what Tim was doing to you and yet I said nothing, I pretended it wasn't true and for that I'll be eternally sorry," Margaret told her.

"But how could you say something, you were just as trapped in your marriage as I was, I think you maybe had it worse than I did, Victor never let you out of his sight, I don't know how you endured it for so long," Nikki said.

"I didn't have much of a choice, Victor never allowed me to work and I was afraid if I left him he'd do something to hurt the people I cared about and then there was Tim, my precious boy who I loved more than anything, I promise you Nikki I never raised that monster he turned out to be, he was such a sweet boy but when he was about twelve Victor wouldn't let me show him any sort of affection, he said no son of his was going to turn out to be some sissy mama's boy, Tim spent the rest of his life believing that I didn't love him and because of that he bought into his father's beliefs about a husband having the right to control his wife," Margaret explained.

"I think this may be the longest conversation we've ever had without Tim or Victor being present," Nikki realized.

"They were afraid of us joining forces and finally standing up to them, my heart ached for you because I knew that you were going through the same things I went through when I first married Victor, I hated that he had turned my son into an exact replica of himself and I found myself wanting to warn you so many times when the two decided to get married but I just couldn't bring myself to face Victor's wrath if I was caught, it was just easier to obey him and avoid the beatings," Margaret told her.

"I'm really sorry I never tried to get to know you more I think we would have really liked each other," Nikki said.

"I'm sure we would have but I'm happy that you're free now and that you can be with a man who will truly love you, I'm afraid I gave that up a long time ago," Margaret replied.

"You mean there was someone else that Victor didn't know about?" Nikki questioned.

"My high school sweetheart, we lost contact once he left for college and by the time I did see him again I was married to Tim and he eventually married someone else, those first years we talked about running away together but he had a daughter and I had Tim and we couldn't bear to abandon our children but I never stopped wondering what could have been, just do yourself a favor and don't let anything come between you and the man that you love," Margaret said.

"I won't, may I see Victor, there's something I need to say to him," Nikki replied.

"Go right ahead, I was leaving anyway, it was nice seeing you again," she said as she began to walk away.

"My mother and I are no longer speaking and well Emma could always use another grandmother, so don't be a stranger," Nikki called after her.

"Thank you but as long as Victor's alive I'm afraid my seeing Emma would just complicate things but she will always be in my heart," Margaret told her.

Nikki walked into Victor's hospital room where Victor was hooked up to all kinds of monitors. She sat down in a chair nearby the bed and fought the temptation to just pull the plugs and put the old man out of his misery.

"I don't know if you can hear me but there's something I need to say to you Victor, you see I'm the reason you're in this condition, sure technically you had a stroke but you wouldn't have had one if I hadn't killed Tim, I suppose I should apologize but then again what for, I mean if it wasn't for you Tim would still be alive, you know that and if you didn't you wouldn't have had the stroke, Tim was finished with me and my daughter, he signed away his rights to her and this all could have ended there but you wouldn't let it, no you just had to keep on pushing and now look where it's gotten you, you better hope you die because if you come out of this and even think for one second about coming after my daughter, I won't hesitate to send you straight to hell to be with your beloved son, you got that Victor, this fight is over and I won," Nikki said standing up and looking at her former father-in-law one last time before leaving the room.

"You ok?" Tommy asked a few days later when Nikki was back home in Reefside.

"Yeah but is it wrong of me to be glad Victor Durham suffered a stroke?" she questioned.

"No, not after everything he's put you through, I mean I know he wasn't the one who abused you but he might as well have been and who's to say he wouldn't have kept coming after Emma even with Tim being dead," Tommy answered.

"I don't even know why I'm wasting time thinking about this, it's over, I'm free, our daughter is finally safe and all I want to do is concentrate on being a family," Nikki told him.

"I'm really glad to hear you say that because I was thinking that maybe it's time we made it official," Tommy said.

"It's already official we changed Emma's birth certificate remember," Nikki responded.

"Yeah, that's not really what I meant," Tommy said as he got down on one knee.

"What are you doing?" she questioned.

"Nikki, will you marry me?" he asked as he pulled a ring box from his pocket.

"I don't know what to say," Nikki responded.

"Wow, that is so not what I expected for you to say," Tommy replied as he stood up.

"Tommy, it's not that I don't love you or don't want to marry you but I just got out of a marriage and I'm not sure I'm ready to jump back into one," she explained.

"I know my timing's really bad what with everything we've been through lately but I've been thinking about this a lot and hearing you talk about us being a family made me think that the time was right but I understand if you're not ready yet, just know that when you are ready I'll be here," he said.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm still running, I've been doing it for so long that I don't know how to stop," she said.

"It's ok, you run for as long as you need to but just know that I'll be running right along side of you," he told her.

"You know someone just recently told me not to let anything stand between me and the man that I love and here I am doing the exact opposite, but I love you and I do want to marry you that is if you'll still have me," she responded.

"Of course I will but Nikki I don't want you to do this until you're ready, I have no problem waiting for as long as it takes," he said.

"I know you would but you don't have to wait anymore, ask me the question again," she said.

"Nikki, will you marry me?" he asked.

"Yes, I will," she said as he slid the ring on her finger and then kissed her.

Months later, Tommy stood in the garden of the Mercer mansion where he and Nikki were about to be married.

"It was really nice of the Mercer's to open up their home like this," Jason remarked as he and Tommy took their places.

"Yeah, I guess Anton figures it's the least he can do after everything that happened with Mesogog but that aside I'm really happy to have you standing here beside me," Tommy responded.

"Where else would I be and besides you stood up for me at my wedding to Kimberly so I'm just returning the favor plus I never thought I'd see the day that you finally settled down," Jason replied.

"You look beautiful," Jen said.

"Thanks, you know I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't finally given me the courage to escape," Nikki told her.

"You already had the courage I just helped you realize it," Jen said as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

"Are you two ready because we are," Hayley said as she came in the room with Emma.

"Mommy, you look like a princess," Emma told her.

"So do you," Nikki said as she gave Emma hug.

"Come on if we don't get out there soon Tommy might think you've changed your mind," Jen remarked.

"That will never happen," Nikki said as they headed outside.

They walked down the path leading to the garden and heard music as the string quartet began to play. Nikki watched as first Jen and then Hayley walked down the aisle and took their places.

"Ok Emma, it's your turn now," Nikki told her.

"I love you, Mommy," said Emma.

"I love you too," Nikki said as Emma started walking down the aisle and throwing flower petals.

"I never thought I'd be doing this again," her father remarked as he took Nikki's arm.

"I know Dad but thanks for being here," she told him.

"At least this time I know I'm giving you away to a good man," he said.

"Wow, you look beautiful," Tommy told her once she was standing next to him.

"Welcome to the beginning of a modern fairytale for Tommy and Nikki as they set off on a wonderful journey together, they have written their own special vows for one another," the minister said.

"I had a very rich fantasy life before we met. I made up imaginary adventures for Queen Nicole and Princess Emmaline. You asked me about them and I told you they were for Emma but they were for me too, because I had to keep hoping and believing that things would get better and that life could be innocent again and new. That there was a place where good beat the bad every single time and that there was a place where Queen Nicole and Princess Emmaline could be happy and safe. I had that dream for a really long time and I hoped it would come true. When I first met you, ok yeah I hit you on the head with a bookend…_she paused as the guests laughed_..but that was because I didn't know then that you would be the one to finally show me my dreams and make them come true and make them real. That is why I fought what I felt for you. My mind kept telling me it wasn't possible, it was too good to be true. But you wouldn't let me ignore all the wondrous possibilities that life had in store for us. Then suddenly it wasn't too good to be true and it wasn't a dream anymore. Emma was ours in everyway possible. As if it was meant to be. You are Emma's father and you are my best friend. You are our Prince and our inspiration and you have given us the greatest life adventure, the promise of happily ever after. I love you Tommy and I will go on loving you every moment for the rest of my life. I will give you everything you need. I will be faithful to you and honest. Emma and I are your family and that is something that will never change. I love you and I always will," Nikki said.

"Love has never come easy for me. In my relationships, I always found myself wondering when things were going to go wrong or waiting for things to fall apart and then I met you. Bringing you into my life was a gift from my best friend Hayley. You and Emma, you deserved everything good but instead you were going through things that could've shut your heart down forever. Love brought you so much pain, so how come every time I looked into your eyes, all I saw was hope. You were still so alive, you could still trust, you could still believe that all your dreams were going to come true and I see that hope and that beauty in your eyes when I look at our daughter, when I kiss you goodnight. It's as if there a pure fire that burns inside you and illuminates everything you do. The way that you mother Emma, the way you that you paint, everything, and I guess I caught a little bit of that. Because when I look at you I hope, I trust, I believe and for the first time in my life I love completely. I swear that I will never let our love or trust or faith dim. I will keep our hope and devotion burning as brightly as it is this very moment for the rest of our lives. I love you Nikki with all of my heart and soul and I am so proud to have you as my wife," Tommy told her.

"Emma, sweetheart, you have something that you want to say, to your Mommy and Daddy, isn't that right," the minister said as he motioned for Emma to come and stand next to her parents.

"I love you Mommy and Daddy and now we can live happily ever after, Amen… Can I have a baby brother?" Emma said as Nikki laughed and Tommy picked her up into his arms.

"One thing at time kid," Tommy said as everyone laughed. He and Nikki both gave Emma a kiss on the cheek before sending her back to sit with Tommy's parents.

"If anyone here knows any reason why these two should not be joined together, speak up, it's now or never," the minister said.

"Now Tommy, take the ring and place it on Nikki's finger and repeat after me, I give you this ring as a token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love," he said.

"Nikki, I give you this ring as a token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love," Tommy repeated.

"Tommy, I give you this ring as a token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love," Nikki said when it was her turn.

"Tommy and Nikki in so much as the two of you have agreed to live with each other in matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, the giving of rings and the joining of your hands, I now declare you to be husband and wife and daughter and you sir may now kiss the bride," the minister said and Tommy kissed his wife.

"Thank you so much for letting me share this day with you," Margaret Durham said after the ceremony.

"I'm really glad you could make it," Nikki told her.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you better now that we're both free," Margaret said with a smile. Victor Durham had passed away having never recovered from his stroke.

"So what will you do with your new found freedom?" Tommy asked Margaret.

"I'm not sure, I was hoping to talk an old flame into taking a much needed vacation with me," Margaret said as Nikki's father joined them.

"I think that'd be a great idea, my Dad could use some time away from the office," Nikki said.

It had been revealed that Tim's mother and Nikki's father had once been high school sweethearts and now that Victor was dead and Nikki's father was getting a divorce from her mother the two had decided to start dating again. It was weird at first for Nikki but once she saw how happy her father was with Margaret she had embraced their relationship.

"You take good care of my girls," Nikki's father said to Tommy.

"I will sir, I promise," Tommy replied.

"I am so happy for you two, I always knew you two would be perfect for each other," Hayley said as she approached them.

"Thanks for everything Hayley," Nikki said as she gave Hayley a hug.

"You know the minister told us that you were the one who taught Emma what to say at the ceremony," Tommy told her.

"Yes but I had nothing to do with her asking for a baby brother, she came up with that all on her own, but you do have to admit it was really funny, you should have seen the look on your faces," Hayley said as she started to laugh.

"She's right it was pretty funny," Nikki said.

"Now come on you too, it's time for the reception," Hayley said as she started walking towards the mansion.

"We'll be there in a second," Tommy called after her.

"Is everything ok?" Nikki asked him.

"Yeah, I just wanted a few minutes alone with my beautiful wife to tell you how much I love you and that I promise to spend the rest of our lives showing you just how much," he answered.

"I love you too and I'm going to hold you to that promise," Nikki said as Tommy leaned in to kiss her.

"Mommy, Daddy, come on!" Emma yelled.

"If she keeps that up she'll never get a baby brother," Tommy said and Nikki just laughed.

"Come on, we have the rest of our lives for that, it's time to celebrate," Nikki said as they ran off to meet Emma.


	25. The End

**Author's note: **_The end is finally here!! I know I could have just ended it with that last chapter but I just couldn't resist adding this last chapter. Thanks once again to all of you who reviewed and gave support to this story. If you can't get enough of the Tommy/Nikki pairing, look for them again in the upcoming sequel to Bewitched._

**CoolDiva: **_Glad you liked that wedding scene I've been waiting forever to write that. Thanks so much for all your support!!!_

**Lone Nightblade: **_You know me, I just had to put one last twist and I thought putting Nikki's dad and Tim's mom together was a good one. Thanks for the support!!!!_

**Chylea3784: **_Thanks so much, nothing but happily ever after left now. _

**general-joseph-dickson: **_Thanks_

**GinaStar: **_I just needed a way to get rid of Victor without there having to be another showdown. _

**moonlite-n-roses: **_I'm glad you liked that chapter so much, it was a favorite of mine to write. Thanks for the support!!!_

**GracefulCrane: **_Glad you liked that last chapter, here's the ending._

**AJ: **_Thanks to you and your friends too!!_

One year later, Nikki Oliver stood on a small step ladder adjusting a painting that was crooked. She had opened a gallery in downtown Reefside where she displayed her work along with the work of other up and coming artists and would soon be hosting an art show featuring the work of Trent Fernandez who was coming home to Reefside to unveil his newest creation.

"Nikki, what the hell are you doing, get down from there," a frantic male voice said from behind her.

"Oh Tommy, I'm barely two feet off the ground would you relax," she said as she continued what she was doing.

"You shouldn't be doing that, isn't that what your assistant is for, where is Kelly anyway," he responded.

"I sent her on an errand and besides I've been climbing up and down this thing all day and nothing's happened so calm down," she replied.

"How can I calm down, you're due to give birth any day now and yet you insist on continuing with your work," he said.

"Tommy, this whole overprotective thing was cute in the beginning but now it's just plain annoying, now is there a reason you're here instead of in the classroom teaching," she replied as she got down from the ladder.

"It's my office hour and I thought I would come here and take my beautiful wife out to lunch," he informed her.

"That sounds like a great idea especially since our days of going out to lunch or anywhere else for that matter will be over for awhile after this baby decides to make an appearance," she said with a smile.

"Ok, so I'll bring the car around front while you clean up here," he said giving her a quick kiss before heading for the door.

"Uh honey, I think that lunch is gonna have to wait," she said causing him to turn around.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because my water just broke," she answered.

"Are you sure?" he questioned.

"I think this puddle under my feet is pretty good indication," she said pointing at the floor.

"The hospital, we need to get to the hospital, but what about your bag, we don't have your bag and it's got all that stuff in it that you wanted to take to the hospital, but we can't exactly go back home and get it, man I knew I should have been more prepared for this," Tommy said as he began pacing back and forth.

"Honey, relax, my bag is in the backseat of your car, I put it there after my last doctor's appointment, but we need to get to the hospital right now, I don't think this baby's gonna wait much longer," Nikki informed him.

Sometime later, Nikki and Tommy were in a hospital room where Nikki's contractions were coming close together and the doctor had informed them that the baby would be making an appearance within the hour.

"I wish I could do more for you than just holding your hand," Tommy said as he wife was breathing through her contractions.

"Trust me, if it was possible I would so trade places with you right now, I forgot just how hard this is but at least I'm not alone right now," she said remembering the birth of their daughter which she had gone through all by herself.

"Ok, Mrs. Oliver, I think it's time for you to start pushing," a nurse told her.

"Come on Nikki you can do this, you got through so much last year, you are the strongest woman I know," Tommy said.

"I'm so glad you're here," Nikki said as she continued to push.

"I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

"The head is out, just a few more pushes and you'll be ready to greet your new baby," the doctor announced.

Five year old Emma Oliver, walked out of Reefside Elementary and scanned the crowd of parents for her mother but instead was greeted by the sight of her Aunt Hayley.

"Aunt Hayley, what are you doing here?" the child asked as she ran over to where Hayley was standing.

"I'm here to take you to the hospital," Hayley answered after receiving a hug.

"Does that mean that Mommy had the baby?" Emma questioned.

"It sure does and it means that you are finally a big sister," Hayley said with a smile as they walked to her car.

"Look at what we did," Nikki said as she held her new baby in her arms.

"It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Tommy said as he planted a kiss on the baby's forehead.

"I can't wait for Emma to get here," Nikki said.

"I still wish that I could have been there for you the day that Emma was born," Tommy told her.

"I know but we can't dwell in the past, isn't that what you're always telling me, all we can do is be grateful for the beautiful family that we have now," Nikki replied.

"Your Mommy is one smart lady," Tommy said looking down at the sleeping infant.

"May we come in?" Hayley asked as she entered the room with Emma.

"Emma, I think you are the most beautiful big sister I've ever seen," Tommy said as he gave his daughter a hug.

"What do you think Emma?" Nikki said once Tommy brought Emma over to the bed and sat her down next to her mother.

"He's so small," Emma said as she looked at her new brother.

"I remember when you were this small," Nikki told her.

"He's beautiful, you did good Oliver," Hayley said to Tommy.

"Thanks but Nikki's the one who did all the hard work," Tommy said.

"Hayley would you like to hold him?" Nikki asked.

"I'd love to, if you're sure it's ok," Hayley replied.

"Of course it's ok especially since we'd like for you to be his godmother so I suspect you'll be holding him a lot, and besides none of this would even be happening if you hadn't taken me and Emma into your home that night," Nikki told her.

"Anyone else would have done the same in my position, I'm just glad that everything worked out in the end, now does my new godson have a name," Hayley said as she took the baby in her arms.

"Well, after much debate, we decided to give him a name that means something to both of us, so his name is Robin," Tommy answered.

"Robin Oliver, it has a nice ring to it," Hayley said as she gave the baby back to his mother.

"Hi Robin, I'm your big sister and I promise to be the best big sister ever," Emma said.

"Nikki, what's wrong?" Tommy asked as he noticed the tears falling from his wife's eyes.

"I just can't believe this is real, we have two healthy, beautiful children and they're safe and I'm just really happy," Nikki told him.

"I'm happy too, I don't know where I would be if I hadn't found you and Emma," Tommy replied.

"I love you so much," Nikki said.

"I love you too," Tommy said.

"Don't forget about me and Robin, we love you too," Emma said causing both her parents to laugh.

"That will never happen," Tommy promised her.


End file.
